Growing Down
by La Pirate Rose
Summary: Drake falls for a girl at a concert. Everything seems to be going great, but she's under the impression that Drake is a college guy! Instead of telling her the truth, Drake goes along with her assumptions. How long can he keep the up the act?
1. Chapter 1

_**I'm probably too old to be watching this show, but it happens to come on right at the time that I get home from work, so I started watching it as I eat dinner, and I find that it really makes me laugh. So in homage, I'ce written my own little adventure for Drake and Josh. Enjoy. OH! And I love feedback! So write me a**_ _**review, and I'll think you're really keen.**_

_**PS: I don't own any of it.**_

"Growing Down"

JOSH: Everybody knows that the older you get, the more responsibility you have to take on to be a productive member of the adult world.

DRAKE: You know, I can't WAIT until I turn eighteen. Once I'm an adult, and out of high school – I'll be able to party 24/7!

JOSH: There's college to think about, and getting a job, and finding a lady to settle down with.

DRAKE: We're talking college parties, clubs, concerts … and don't forget all the beautiful women …

JOSH: Sometimes I worry that Drake will have trouble adapting to that world. See, I have a plan for college, and things that I want to do in the future. Drake is more of a short-term thinker.

DRAKE: It's going to be fun-central in the "adult" world, as Josh calls it. But, I'm kinda worried that Josh won't be part of the fun club. I mean, he's so serious, you know? He's always talking about school, and jobs and blah blah blah …. BORING.

JOSH: I've tried to motivate him to invest more time in his future, but sometimes it's hard to get through to him.

DRAKE: He gets in these moods where he like, tries to get me to talk about all this lame stuff. Like, PARENT-lame stuff. As if I'm EVER going to be like my PARENTS. Come on. They're OLD!

JOSH: He doesn't seem to understand that he's not getting any younger. One day he's going to wake up, and he's going to have to be mature.

DRAKE: Josh doesn't get that I'm too young to worry about this stuff. Oh, and I don't CARE.

JOSH: That day is coming soon, and I just hope he's ready.

DRAKE: I mean, maybe I'll care one day … far, far away … but that's like, way, way far away.

JOSH: And Drake's a good guy. I know that when that day comes, he'll grow up, and everything will be okay. He'll learn the value of planning ahead and earning his rewards.

DRAKE: (on phone) Hey man. What're you doing tonight? Yeah, I dunno either. Hey, let's go let the air out of Mrs. Hafer's tires! ….. How do we get into her garage? Beats me. We'll just figure it out when we get there. ….. Cool. See you in ten.

June 17th, 11:00 am. School was out for the summer, and students everywhere were breathing a collective sigh of relief. The San Diego sun was warm and beckoning, and everywhere one turned there were smiling, laughing teenagers in flip-flops, bikinis and tee-shirts, sucking up the summer air. Drake was among them, opting to spend his days on the beach, or at the theater, or hanging around downtown with Lisa. Or Tracy. Or Gretchen. Or Heather. Or Felicia……

Josh, on the other hand, had eagerly set himself up an extremely ambitious summer schedule of working at the movie theater (to save money for college), an SAT prep course, summer school, and a little time with Mindy, of course. But they could always study together, so he didn't prioritise an abundance of free time with his girlfriend. In fact, on June 17th, at 11:00 am, Josh had just settled into his desk with three freshly sharpened pencils, a timer, and an SAT practice test booklet.

"Alright Mr. S A T," he grinned, "time for you to be TAKEN. Thas right, I'm gonna take you!"

"Hopefully you're taking it far away," Drake quipped, sauntering into the room, bowl of chocolatey cereal in hand. "You're not actually studying NOW, are you?"

Josh turned. "Yes, Drake, I'm studying NOW. Do you realize that we only have three months until we take the SATs? This could very well determine how the rest of our LIVES are spent!" He turned back to his desk, and straightened his pencils.

Drake rolled his eyes and munched loudly. "Dude. You have three months. I think you can learn to take a test in three months."

Josh turned. "And when are you going to start studying? You have to take it too, you know."

"Eh," Drake shrugged. "I'm not going to college. Why take the college test?"

Josh sighed. "Draaaake …. We've been OVER this. You have to go to college. It's those building blocks of higher education that lead to –"

"A beautiful palace of the rest of my life, I know, I know…." Drake rolled his eyes again, finishing Josh's well-rehearsed adage. "Now here's an idea…why don't we live our lives NOW? As in, live for today?" Drake stood, and fished around in his back pocket. "Look what I got," he waved two tickets in front of Josh's confused expression.

"Tickets? For what?"

"Dude. The Vans Warped Tour. Starts in-" he checked his watch, "-twenty minutes. So, uh, put on something a little more …. Cool …. And we'll head out."

"What? Drake, you know I have a schedule. I can't just gallivant off to the Warped Tour."

Drake gave him a strange look. "Dude. Seriously. You can study when you get back." He turned, and then, as if on second thought, looked back at his brother. "Oh, and don't use words like 'gallivant'. It' makes you sound a little gay."

"I have my summer school class tonight-" Josh protested.

"You can leave before five. You'll make it." Drake grabbed Josh's arm. "Come on, man. I'm getting old waiting for you to remember that you're still young."

He didn't want to. He knew he shouldn't. But he also knew there was no use in fighting it, because Drake always got his way. So he sighed in defeat, snatched the ticket out of Drake's hand, and followed him, glowering, to the beach for an afternoon of hot sun, loud music, obnoxious teens, and cigarette smoke.

June 17th, 3:26 pm. The sun beat down, and the music was loud. Drake was taking in the scenery, enjoying the ambiance, and Josh was complaining of sunburn.

"So buy a hat," Drake was saying. "There's vendors like, everywhere. If you buy a hat, you wont get any worse."

"Ohhhh," Josh moaned. "All the hats have band names on them!"

Drake looked at him as if he were crazy. "Uh, YEAH."

"Well, I can't go around all day with a hat that says 'black zombie vomit' on it!"

Drake shrugged. "Why not? He is." He pointed to a rather skinny youth in a 'black zombie vomit' cap who was swaggering by. He hair was in a rather scraggly, green Mohawk, and there was a large bolt through the bridge of his nose. Josh just looked at Drake. "Oh, alright, alright." Drake motioned for Josh to follow him. "Umm … there!" He pointed to a small merch table. "Look. This band is called 'Hot Pink Police'. Buy one of their hats."

"You want me to wear a pink hat that says 'hot pink police' on it?" Josh was incredulous.

"Hey, it's that or Black Zombie Vomit." He shrugged. "And personally, I think the pink suits you better."

"Ohh, Fine!" Josh whined in return. "But I'm not going to like it!" And he marched to the merch table. "Excuse me, uh, Miss?" Drake followed him up to the table, and stood with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked idly over his shoulder, and then back to Josh, who was trying to flag down one of the people behind the table to purchase a hat. Finally, a young girl walked up to them, and nodded her head in their direction.

"Hey guys. What can I get for you?" She was tall, and her hair was cut in a shaggy, black bob that had been gelled into a chaos of spikes all over her head. She was attractive, and Josh didn't need to peek at Drake to know that his step-brother was staring.

"Hi, yeah," began Josh. "Can I just get one of your hats?"

"Sure. That'll be, uh, ten bucks." She reached around and pulled one of thepink caps out of a box, and handed it to Josh, who self-consciously popped it on his head.

"Hey," Drake said suddenly, leaning over the table. "Great tattoo! Is it real?" He pointed to the girl's wrist, where a small tattoo of a pirate cutlass slicing through a red heart contrasted violently against her fair skin.

"Oh, thanks. Yeah, it's real. No point in getting a fake one." She smiled, and held out her wrist for Drake to examine.

"Nice," he admired. "How recent is it?"

"Oh, it's pretty fresh. Two months ago, actually."

"That your only one?" Drake asked with a cock of an eyebrow.

The girl gave a small laugh. "No, it's not."

Drake leaned in suggestively. "I'd love to see the rest of them."

The young girl laughed out loud then, and folded her arms over her chest. "Dare to dream, my friend, dare to dream."

Drake smiled. "I can ask, can't I?"

"Worth a try, I suppose." She smiled again. "So, you guys like the Pink Police?" She looked back and forth from Drake to Josh.

"Well, actually, we've never heard of them," Josh answered honestly.

"Josh!" Drake rolled his eyes. "He is such a kidder. Of course we've heard of them. They just played, right?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah, over on the local band stage. It's actually my sister's band, so, you know, I watch the merch table."

"Your sister's in the band? That's so cool," Drake marveled.

"You know, Drake's in a band too," Josh offered. Drake shot him a look that was a vain attempt to shut him up, that didn't work at all. But surprisingly, the young girl seemed interested, much to Drake's relief.

"Right on. What do you play?"

"Oh, you know. Some guitar. I do some vocals." He shrugged, but was pleased to see her smile.

"Well that is very cool. Are you selling demos?"

"What?"

"You know. Demo tape. Lots of musicans sell demos for a buck or two at these functions, you know, to get their stuff distributed to their audience. I thought maybe that's what you were doing." She looked off toward the stages. "That's cool, though. Keep it up."

"Hey, uh …" Drake faltered, but stepped closer to the table. "I wa thinking, you know, is the band coming back soon? It'd be cool to meet them."

The girl smiled. "You want to meet the band?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"The band you've never heard of." A smile was beginning to tug at her lips.

"Well-" Drake looked to Josh for help, but none was forthcoming, as Josh seemed as confused as ever.

"Is that you're way of asking if you can stay and talk to me?" The hint of a smile turned into a grin, that Drake couldn't help but mirror.

"I guess it was pretty obvious?"

The girl laughed, and stuck out her hand. "I'm Arlene," she said. Drake took it in his own. "I'm Drake. This is Josh."

"Hey Arlene," Josh said with a small wave.

"Hey guys. Nice to meet you." She looked over at Josh, who, despite the hat, was quite obviously very miserable in the heat. "Do you guys want to come sit in the tent?"

"DO I," Josh perked up immediately, and ran around the table, flopping gracelessly into a folding chair under the safety of the awning.

"I guess that's a yes," she laughed. "You?" she looked at Drake.

"Yeah, sure. That'd be good." He stepped neatly around the table, and flopped onto a dingy couch that was set up behind the merch table. Arlene kicked off her checkered vans and folded her legs up underneath her as she sat.

"Oh! Can I offer you guys something to drink?" She leaned over the side of the couch and began to rummage through an icechest. "Beer? Soda? Water?" She looked up.

"Uh, Soda for me," Josh said politely.

"Here ya go," she tossed a pepsi at him. "You?"

"Uh, whatever you got is cool," Drake answered nonchalantly.

"Corona?" She looked over her shoulder. "We don't have any limes," she shrugged apologetically, and held a bottle out to him. He took it gingerly, and watched as she popped the top on her own beer and took a swig.

"Drake, I don't know if that's a good idea," Josh said softly, trying not to garner any attention, but Arlene noticed, and looked over at Drake.

"Oh, are you driving?" She lifted her eyebrows curiously.

"No," said Josh again, looking at Arlene. "We don't drink." And he gave a meaningful look at Drake.

"Oh!" Arlene said in realization. "Oh, shit. I'm sorry," she shifted her eyes uncomfortably. "Wow. I didn't even think. Sorry guys. Really." She took the beer from Drake and handed him a pepsi. "I've had several friends go through the program," she nodded knowingly. "It's no big deal."

Josh knitted his brow together, obviously confused, but Arlene didn't notice. She was, of course, looking at Drake. She found him to be attractive, in a very boyish way. His legs were long, and he had a nice sense of style. She could never turn down a man in tight jeans. And he seemed NICE – which was a pleasant change from most of the men she met in her life.

"So, I have to say: San Diego is not that big of a place," Drake said to Arlene. "Why havn't I seen you around?" He smiled. "I'm sure I would have remembered you."

"I just moved here, actually. I'm originally from Pheonix."

"You just moved here from Phoenix?" Drake looked horrified. "How stoked are YOU to be out of that place?!"

She laughed lightheartedly. "Well, I do prefer Califirnia, for sure. But I've actually been moving around quite a bit in the last five or six years. I went to school in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, and you know, moved down here. So I've been a California girl for quite some time." She smiled. "I take it you're San Diego, born and raised, yes?"

"True, my friend, very true." Drake lifted his pepsi, as if in toast. "It's surf and sun for this boy all year round."

"That sounds nice," Arlene sighed. "Maybe I'll get a taste of that this summer before school starts up again." She looked at Drake and then proudly proclaimed, "I'm starting over at Bellview High School in September."

"No way!" the two boys both exclaimed. Arlene looked taken aback.

"That's our school!" Josh explained.

"No Way!" Arlene laughed. "Superb! I feel like I know the place already." She looked at them both conspiratorially. "Okay, so who should I look out for?"

"Mrs. Hafer," Drake said automatically, and then shuddered theatrically. "She gives me the creeps…" another shudder for good measure.

"She is not that bad," Josh snapped. "She is a perfectly charming lady."

"Let me guess," Arlene supplied. "History teacher?"

"English, actually," huffed Josh.

"Ah, well … I'll be sure to avoid her." She winked at Drake.

"I think you'll really enjoy Bellview," Drake said, changing the subject away form his least favorite teacher. "Other than the whole 'getting up at eight in the morning' thing."

"Oh, tell me about it," Arlene groaned. "And I'll be in front of a calculus class first period, I'm sure."

"You already have your schedule?"

"Well, no," she admitted. "But it seems like calculus is ALWAYS first period. And then everybody just sleeps through the whole damn class." She and Drake laughed together.

"Oh, oh my Gosh!" Josh suddenly jumped up. "Drake! We have to go!"

"What? Why?"

"Drake, it's almost five! My Government class starts in an hour!" He stood up, looking frantic.

"So?"

"So I have to make it from HERE to San Diego City College by Six oClock! We have to leave now!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa …. Calm down. Sit." Drake stood up, and faced Josh. "How long does it take to get over there? You have plenty of time!"

"Drake, you promised that I could leave in enough time to get to-"

"I know, I know," he sighed, stealing a look back at Arlene. He debated. Get a ride with Josh? Or stay with Arlene, and take a bus home? He almost laughed. Like it was really even a decision. "You go ahead. I'll catch a ride later."

"But Drake, I …"

"Go." He shoved Josh through the opening in the tables out to the parking lot, watched him go, and then smiled to himself, and returned to the couch, where he sat comfortably, and began chatting with Arlene about the warped tour.

_**Thanks for reading! Keep going on to the next chapter ... hopefully I'll keep updating regularly.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hope everyone liked the first chapter. Drop me a line with any comments, suggestions, etc. THanks!**_

When Drake finally came home that night, Josh was waiting up.

"Drake? It's almost midnight!"

Drake sauntered into the room and smiled at Josh. He tossed his coat lightly over the back of the couch and sank down. "Yeah," he closed his eyes and smiled.

"Drake?" Josh came around the couch and poked him in the heard to get his attention. "Dra-ake…" Josh poked him harder. Drake lolled his head over to look at Josh expectantly. "How did you get home?" Something in Josh's accusing tone told Drake that he already knew exactly how he had gotten from the warped tour to their house.

"Arlene gave me a ride." Drake grinned stupidly.

Josh sighed. "Here we go again." He sat down hard next to Drake on the couch.

"What? You met her," Drake prodded. "She's a cool girl."

"Yes, but she's a bit irresponsible, don't you think?"

"What do you mean?"

"Offering us beer? Drake, have you forgotten that we're not old enough to really even be thinking about drinking?" Josh's eye got eide, and he pursed his lips.

Drake rolled his eyes, the smile never leaving his face. "Ah, Josh, so what? So she likes beer. It's not the end of the world. And actually, if you had taken the time to talk to her, you'd probably like her." He punctuated the words with a poke to Josh's chest. "She's very smart. She knows things about … stuff that you know things about."

Josh shook his head. "Since when do you date girls who KNOW things?"

"Since tomorrow night," Drake smirked. "We're going to the movies."

"I thought you were going to the movies with Lisa tomorrow night!"

"Oh, shoot-" Drake's face immediately fell into an expression of annoyance. "Ah, well, no harm, no foul." He reached for the phone and began to dial, buit Josh batted it away from him.

"You can't call Lisa to cancel your date NOW."

"Why not?"

"It's midnight, that's why not!" Josh picked up the phone and slammed it back into the cradle. "You're breaking a date to go to the movies with Arlene?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Well," Josh began slowly. "She's just a bit different from the girls you normally date, is all. I was a little surprised." He stood and walked back to his desk.

"Wait, wait, wait." Drake stood and stood accusingly at Josh. "Different? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing." Josh said innocently. "Just different."

"HOW different?"

"It's just something about her seems … not like Lisa or Tracy or Felicity-"

"Or Alyssa, or Casey, or Jasmine-" Drake supplied.

"YES," interrupted Josh. "Or them."

"What do you mean?" shrugged Drake, obviously not concerned. "She's fun. She's cool. She's definitely attractive," he whistled low.

"But, in a different way. Come on Drake. Look at most of your girlfriends. Tall, thin, long, flowing hair …"

"Arlene is tall and thin. And she doesn't have the long, flowing hair thing, but her hair is cute!"

"Drake," Josh snapped. "That's not the point. Most of your girlfriends wear pastels and read at a third grade level!"

"Well, then I would think you'd be happy I was dating someone who read at a high school level." Drake began to rummage through his drawer for gummy bears.

"There's just something about her … I can't put my finger on it," Josh was mumbling.

"Well, I'll tell you what it is tomorrow night." Drake threw off his shirt and hopped into his bed, leaving Josh to wonder what it was about Arlene that seemed out of place.

THE NEXT NIGHT:

Arlene and Drake walked out of the movie theater, and Josh watched from the concessions counter. She had tamed some of the more wild spikes out of her hair, and today she sported a sleek do that framed her face nicely. What was it about her, Josh thought to himself as he drummed his fingers on the counter. Was it her clothes? Doubtful. Black pants and a beige top were hardly very telling. Although Josh did take time to admire the rust colored velvet jacket she had thrown haphazardly over one shoulder. Maybe it was her pumps. He didn't know anyone who wore pumps, except his mom, and maybe some of his teachers at school.

She was smiling and laughing with Drake, but not fawning over him. In fact, it seemed to be exactly the opposite from what Josh was used to: maybe THAT was what was not right – instead of some random girl falling all over herself for Drake and having Drake put her on the rotating schedule of women in his life, Drake was actually hanging on to every word and movement Arlene made. And Arlene seemed very low-key about the whole thing.

"Oh, hey, Josh!" Drake lead Arlene over to the concessions. "You remember Arlene?"

"Hey Josh. Nice to see you again." She smiled warmly.

"Hi Arlene. Hey Drake. Where are you two off to this evening?"

"Oh, I'm not sure." Arlene looked at Drake. "Did you have anything in mind?"

Drake shrugged. "We're taking your car, so it's wherever you want to go."

Arlene laughed. "Ah, the joys of a vehicle. Honestly, how you get anything done without a car is beyond me." She shook her head fondly. "At least you live close to the school."

"True that," Drake nodded.

She looked at Josh. "Have a break anytime soon?"

"Uh, actually I'm getting off in about fifteen minutes," Josh looked confused.

"Well," Arlene looked from Drake to Josh, and back to Drake. "How about some late night Chinese food?"

"Sounds good," said Drake immediately.

"Oh, uh, I better not," Josh stammered. "I have to get home."

"Aw, you sure?"

"Yeah. You guys go ahead." He gave a half-smile.

"I'll bring you back some egg rolls," winked Drake.

"Oh –" Arlene looked between them again. "Do you guys live together?"

"Yeah," Josh said uncertainly. "Drake's my brother."

"Yeah," Drake agreed. "We live in the loft above the garage."

"Oh man," Arlen gushed. "Are you serious? That's fantastic!"

"Isn't it though?" Drake leaned over the counter and pulled a box of Junior mints out of the concessions stand, ignoring Josh's look af annoyance.

"Is it your parents house, then?"

"Yeah," said Josh, looking confused. "Who else's house would it be?"

"Oh, I don't know. I though maybe you guys rented it or something." She shrugged. "That's cool though. I'll have to come by and see it sometime." She smiled at Drake again, who swung an arm around her back.

"Shall we?"

"We shall," she answered, and they sauntered off, waving goodbye to Josh over their shoulders. Indeed, Josh thought, there was something odd about Arlene.

_**Can anybody guess what's 'odd' about her?**_


	3. Chapter 3

3 WEEKS LATER:

It was official. Drake was off the market. He was a taken man, and he couldn't be happier. Josh was happy for him, but a little concerned – true, the relationship seemed innocent enough to begin with – but the activities Drake chose to pursue with this girl were a bit out of character for him, and Josh worried that he was changing just to impress her. They went to the movies from time to time, but more often than not, they would go out to dinner. And not just to the pizza place down the street – they would go get Indian food at 'Spices of Delhi' and then walk on the beach. Or, they would spend an evening at the fancy fondu restauraunt. And in three weeks, they had been out thirteen times.

She was, however, very friendly and pleasant with him, which he appreciated. Most of Drake's girlfriends viewed him as a necessary dorky evil that had to be tolerated if they wanted to maintain any sort of relationship with Drake. Arlene often went out of her way to invite him to dinner or for an evening out on the town – to which he almost always politely refused, claiming a need to study. The one time he had gone with them, his suspicions about Arlene had been furthered, and the experience had been rather akward. They had gone on one of Arlene's (apparently) famous midnight Chinese food runs, and then sat out on the beach to eat. The night was warm, but Drake draped himself over her as if they both needed the body heat to survive.

"Okay, so tell me about yourself, Josh. I feel like I hardly know you!" Arlene giggled between mouthfuls of chow mein.

"Well, there's not much to know," he said honestly.

"Come on. All I know about you is that you study too damn much for one summer school class."

"Well, I like to study," he answered lamely.

"Nothing wrong with that, nothing at all," she answered, diffusing his defensiveness. "Are you almost done with school, though? Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?"

"Well, I've got another year," he answered. "But then four more years of college after that."

"Ahhhh," she nodded. "Higher education. It's a bitch, is it not?" She and Drake giggled. "Well, okay. What are you going to school for?"

"I mostly study science…you know, physics," Josh said to her.

"Nice, nice. Do I smell a PhD?" She elbowed him playfully. "Do you plan on teaching? Or working in research?"

"I'm not sure, actually. It's kind of a long way away, ya know?" He picked up a fortune cookie. "What about you? What are you going to do with your life?" He looked at Arlene.

"Hopefully teach!" She said with a laugh. "I'd hate to have put all this work into a teaching credential for nothing!"

Drake laughed with her, but Josh thought the comment a little odd. But he shook it off when she turned to Drake.

"Okay, your turn. What do you want to do with yourself?"

"Play guitar. Write music. Be in a world-famous band." Drake squeezed his arm tighter around her shoulder. She smiled.

"That's very sexy," she was saying, and Drake was practically beaming. "Oh! Do you have your guitar in the car? Bring it out! Bring it out here!" She had jumped up, and handed Drake the keys to the car. He bounded off, eager to play for the new object of his affection. She turned to Josh. "I love hearing him play."

"Yeah," said Josh, toeing the sand. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. Her hair was tied back in a scarf, and the outline of her jaw was just visable in the light of the moon. "I just wish he would devote more time to his school work and less time to chasing musical pipe dreams."

Arlene turned sympathetically. "You don't think music is a good career choice for him?"

"I want Drake to get a real job." Josh snorted.

"Well," Arlene continued diplomatically. "It's sweet that you're so worried about him … but he's got a good head on his shoulders." She ignored the snort of disbelief from Josh. "I think it's very impressive that he's going to pursue his music for a while. It's very authentic." She folded her hands together and wrapped them around her knees. "Very few people have the sureness of self and conviction to really throw themselves completely into an area they're passionate about." Alrene leaned her head to one side and stared out at the sea. She didn't notice that Josh had turned slowly and was regarding her strangely as she spoke. "It's really one of the things I love about Drake. You know, the fact that he's got the balls to really go for it. Not just throw in the towel and work as a banker or a real estate agent. He's going to be happy, and I really couldn't be more impressed by anyone with that philosophy on life."

"Can I ask you something?" Josh was still eyeing her with suspicion.

"Sure."

"What do you SEE in him? I hate to be the one to say this, because he's my brother, and I love him, but he's very shallow. VERY shallow. And you're like …" he searched for a word. "Poetic. And intelligent. And … I just don't see how you couldn't think you were wasting time with him."

He felt bad immediately after saying it, but to his surprise, Arlene laughed softly, rocking in the sand. "Josh, I know Drake's not the most brilliant man on the planet. I mean, come on. He stuffed half a cake of butter in my toaster oven …" she giggled and shook her head. "But every guy is like that at his age. They grow out of it. But Drake's a good guy. And I'm not necessarily looking for a genius. I'm attracted to his … his joie de vivre. His gusto for life." She grinned, and winked as Drake jogged up with his guitar.

"You been talking about me?" He plopped down next to Arlene, leaning in for a quick kiss. She smiled.

"Of course." She poked him playfully. "Now play me something … play me that one you wrote."

"Just for you," he said, and began to strum. "I never thought it could be so simple but I found a way, I found a way…."

Josh watched and saw something very strange. Drake looked at her while he sang, and smiled in a way that Josh had only seen in the movies. And the funny thing about it was that Arlene seemed lost in his eyes as well. Three weeks and thirteen dates, and they were smitten. And Josh didn't get it: he decided then ansd there to double date with them so Mindy could have a look at Arlene. And if worse came to worse, he would have Megan meet her. Megan would know what was up. Megan always knew what was up.

But he focused back on the pair in front of him: Drake was still strumming and singing, starting into a new song, putting Arlene's name into the lyrics.

"Wake up Arlene, I think I've got something to say to you. It's late September and I really should be back at school…"

Arlene smiled, and Josh shook his head. He almost fely guilty trying to find something wrong with this girl – for the first time in his life Drake actually found someone who wanted to be with him for reasons other than his good looks or popularity – and he was singing just for her.

**_Reviews! Tell me what you think!! THanks all. Hope everyone's enjoying this little brainchild of mine._**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Thanks to Summerluck2 for the glowing review ... you're my favorite! Anyways ... here we go. The plot thickens..._**

**_Review and let me know what you think, how it's going - I take requests as well, so if you have ideas, do feel free to share. This is a fanfiction co-op, afterall..._**

July 4th, 7:54 pm. Drake and Arlene were out with Mindy and Josh, waiting for the fireworks to begin over the ocean. Drake and Arlene were sharing a picnic blanket out on the beach: he was laying with his feet in the sand, and his head on Arlene's lap. They were sharing a slurpee from 7/11, and talking softly to one another. Mindy and Josh sat, not too far off, watching them carefully.

"So?" Joshed asked Mindy. "What do you think?"

"I think she's perfectly charming." She shook her head. "Much too charming for Drake."

"Yes, thank you. But don't you think something weird is going on?"

"Yes. She's normal, Drake is a moron. It doesn't seem to fit, does it?" Mindy cocked her head and smirked.

"MINDY," he hissed. "Not helping!"

"Well, Josh, I don't know what you want me to say. True, she doesn't seem at all like the barbies Drake usually wastes his time on, but maybe he's growing up." Mindy shrugged. "Now, did you ask me all the way out here to spy on Drake's girlfriend? Or are you going to kiss me?"

The fireworks were spectacular, but Drake only had eye for Arlene. He cuddled up against her, and whispered to her as the fireworks burst again and again over their heads.

"Mmm, you smell good," he whispered.

"Green Tea shampoo," was her reply, with a grin.

"I'm glad we took Josh's car," he said in her ear. "Now the back seat smells like your shampoo." He kissed her neck lightly.

She giggled. "You know what else smells like my shampoo?"

"Hmm?"

"My pillows…" She looked over at him suggestively.

He met her gaze and raised one eyebrow in challenge. "I can only imagine…"

"What are you doing tomorrow morning?" She bit her lip in a sultry smile.

"You tell me."

"How about we get breakfast?"

"Breakfast sounds good," he nodded, a grin forming.

She leaned in, and kissed his lips lightly. "Let's go." She stood , and grabbed Drake's hand.

"OK … HOLD ON." Drake jumped up, and dashed over to Josh. "Josh," he said breathlessly. "I'm going to Arlene's place. Tell mom and dad I'm at one of my friend's houses."

"What? Which one?"

"Doesn't matter," he said.

"Drake, wait." Josh stood, and leaned into his brother. "I'm not going to lie for you so you can go ….. sleep over at your girlfriend's house!"

"Josh, I'm going, okay? Just cover for me."

"Drake. NO!"

"Josh, listen to me." He pulled Josh over to a place away from both Mindy and Arlene. "What is the big deal?"

"Drake, I think you're moving kinda fast with this girl. I mean, you've been dating three weeks, and you're going to start spending the night at her HOUSE? Don't you think her parents will NOTICE?" His nostrils flared as he spoke.

"Clearly it's not an issue, because she invited me." He shook his head. "And as for moving too fast…" Drake's entire face changed from intense to something that Josh could only describe as a look of happy longing. "Josh, I think I love this girl." Even Drake seemed surprised at his own admission - clearly hearing it out loud was completely different than internalizing it - but the surprise wore off quickly, and he looked at his brother with such sincerity that Josh was at a complete loss for words.

"Um," he looked downcast. "Alright, I guess…" He bit his lip, and watched as Drake patted him on the shoulder excitedly and jogged off to meet Arlene. Josh returned to Mindy, and sat down, a bit dumbfounded.

"What was that all about?" she asked him.

He threw his hands over his head, flopped back on the beach and said, "Drake's in love!"

The ride across town to Arlene's house was almost silent. When they finally pulled up to a small unit of condominiums and parked, Drake put a hand on Arlene's.

"You're sure no one is going to mind that I'm, you know, sleeping here?"

She gave him a funny look. "Who would mind?" She leaned in and kissed him lightly. "No one's home. April's gone on tour with the band, remember?"

"Wait," Drake took in this information. "You live with your sister?"

"I told you that," she said. "I was sure that I had told you that!"

He debated whether or not to push the subject, but Josh's theories about Arlene being 'different' began to nag him in the back of his mind. So against his own better judgement, he forged ahead. "What about your parents?"

"What about them?"

"They don't live here, do they?"

Arlene gave him another strange look. "In San Diego? GOD no. My mom lives in Pheonix still. And My dad lives in Utah, or some damn place, last time I heard from him. What made you think of them?"

Drake thought fast. "I dunno." He shrugged. "I guess for some reason I thought you lived with them. Stupid, huh?" He tried to laugh, but it sounded forced. Arlene just raised an eyebrow, and chuckled to herself.

"Drake, I haven't lived with my parents in eight years." She chuckled again, and then got out of the car. Drake didn't move, distracted by this new information. She poked her head back in the driver's side of the car. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, sorry." He jumped out of the car, determined to forget the odd bits of information he had received. He followed Arlene into the house. She tossed her keys and purse down onto the couch, and turned to Drake.

"So? Whadya think?"

He turned around, and nodded in approval. "Nice, nice. Definitely not as cool as living with your parents, but it's a close second." He smiled, and took a step toward her. She closed the gap between them and kissed him hard. He wrapped his arms around her, and returned the kiss with enthusiasm. She nipped at his lip, and began to kiss his jaw, and nuzzle at his neck. Drake moaned deep in his throat.

"So, do I get a tour?" he asked slowly, winding his hands through her short hair.

"Mmm …" she answered in between kisses. "Where do you want to start?"

"How about your room?"

"Good plan." She grabbed his hand, and began pulling him behind her down a short hall, and into her bedroom. It was simple, but Drake was utterly impressed. Hardwood floors were covered by a black throw rug, and deep purple and blue curtains clung to gray walls. It felt like none of the bedrooms he had ever been in – there was a sense of dignity to it. And it was … clean. Not just tidy, but actually clean. There were candles and a laptop and some various personal effects surrounding a rather large bed. In fact, it was the largest bed Drake had ever seen for a single person. And true to her word, the whole room smelled faintly and deliciously of the green tea shampoo.

"This is a great room," he admired finally.

"Thanks," she winked. "But I think it'll look a lot better when your clothes are on the floor." She grabbed him by the front of his jacket and pulled him to her. They kissed passionately, and suddenly Drake was very aware that he had fallen backwards across her bed, and she was now crawling on top of him. She straddled him and sat calmly across his hips, running her hands through her hair, pulling out the two small clips that had held her bangs out of her eyes. She smiled at him seductively, and shook out her hair. He couldn't resist – he ran his hands slowly up her thighs, over her jeans, thoroughly enjoying the rough feeling of denim under his palms.

Arlene looked down at Drake, and slowly, calmly pulled her shirt over her head. Drake didn't move, but laid on the fluffy down of her comforter and enjoyed the view of her shapely body.

"God, Arlene, you're beautiful," he breathed.

She quirked her eyebrows. "I work out," she jested, but clearly was pleased by his reaction. She took his hands in hers, and moved them up to rest on her naked waist. She leaned over and kissed him again, and he felt her slowly work her hands under his shirt, and caress his chest. He kissed her lazily, enjoying the sensation. He allowed his hands to roam over her back and shoulders, and was disappointed when she rolled up, and sat straight again.

She must have noticed his expression, because she laughed.

"Aw, babe, don't worry, I'm coming back," she reached behind her back. "I'm just getting a little more comfortable, is all." As she spoke, she poked the snap on her bra, and let the garment fall from her shoulders. She tossed it to the side and laid on Drake, kissing and suckling his neck just below his ear. Drake's mind had almost gone blank when Josh's voice came into his head again with, 'don't you think you're moving kinda fast…?"

"Dammit Josh," he muttered, and softly rolled Arlene off of him.

"Josh? What?" Arlene looked confused.

"Sorry, no …. Look, Arlene …" he ran a hand through his hair nervously.

"What is it?" She crawled up to him and settled on her knees. "Is something wrong?"

She looked genuinely concerned, but Drake couldn't concentrate with a topless woman within reach, so he tried the best he could to come up with a lucid thought pattern.

"I just … well, for one thing, I don't have, you know … anything…" he waved his hand around, as if the random gesticulation would make his point all the more clear.

Arlene seemed to look relieved, and she even smiled a bit. "Drake, I'm on the pill. It's okay."

"Look, no, Arlene …" He reached over and touched his hand to her hair. "I think … I mean … aw, shit, Arlene." He smiled. "You're awesome."

She smiled. "I sense a 'but' coming on."

Drake bit his lip. "BUT … I don't want to do anything that would hurt our relationship, you know?"

"Drake," she interrupted him softly. "I hardly think that sleeping with me will hurt the relationship."

Immediatley Drake perked up. "Really?"

Arlene paused, and then practically exploded in laughter. "What do you mean really? Of course not, you dork!"

"Wow. I wasn't expecting that response," he snorted. "Ususally the girls I date totally agree, and then throw all their clothes back on and apologize like, 300 times." He laughed with Arlene. "Some even cry."

"Oh my God. You date retarded girls."

"Present company excluded."

"You're damn right." She wrapped her arms around him. "Now are you going to get naked, or what?" And she pulled him down on top of her.

Drake awoke in a perfumed pillow of green tea shampoo. It took a minute to realize where he was and what he was doing there … but once he remembered, he was glad that he did. But Arlene was nowhere to be found. He stood, looked around, and saw the door to her room open. He listened, and could hear faint strains of music coming from the front room, so he pulled on yesterday's jeans, and went to investigate, running his hand through his hair, trying to tame it a bit.

When he came to the living room, he took a quick glance around. There was a small, neatly trimmed yard just beyond a sliding glass door, and some assorted paintings of something that seemed to be the Eiffel tower. He followed the sound of the music, and peeked around the corner. Arlene stood in the kitchen with a mug of something steamy hot in a pair of sweats, a green camisol top and pink, furry slippers. Her hair was a mess, and her makeup (which was usually so perfectly dramatic and dark) was gone, leaving a youthful glow to her skin. Drake didn't know how long he watched her as she shuffled around the kitchen, making coffee, reading the newspaper, finding milk in the crowded fridge – but suddenly he realized that this woman in the sweatpants was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Morning breath and his unruly hair be damned, he walked purposefully into the room, swung her around, and kissed her deeply. She squealed, but kissed him back with just as much gusto. She tasted of expresso and brown sugar, and Drake committed that, along with the scent of her shampoo, to memory.

"Good morning," she breathed.

"Good morning." He let her go, and sat down at the small table in the nook. She followed him, and sat down in his lap.

"Coffee?"

He shook his head. "No thanks. I should actually probably call Josh and have him pick me up." She pouted prettily. "But, then again, he's probably studying, so … that can wait."

"I can drop you off," she offered.

"Naw, Josh needs the study break." He smiled, and kissed the tip of her nose.

"What is he studying for anyway?" She loked at him. "And by the way, for someone who is supposedly you brother, he looks NOTHING like you." She giggled.

"He's taking government, or something, and he's actually my step brother." Drake took Arlene's mug and braved a sip of her coffee. It wasn't that bad, he decided. Strong, but robust. And it tasted like her.

"He shouldn't need to spend that much time studying for government."

"Ah, well, he's studying for the SAT as well."

"What?" She looked genuinely surprised. "The SAT?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Oh, nothing. I just assumed he was in college, that's all."

Drake laughed. "Nope. Not yet, anyway. He's got another year of high school."

"I guess that makes sense," she amended. "Hm." She took a thoughtful sip of coffee. "But you two seem to get along well together. He's lucky to have you."

Drake smiled. "Yeah…"

"Oh stop," she giggled, and smacked him playfully. "I'm serious. When April went away to college I was so mad that I didn't have a big sister to help me through my difficult adolescence."

"Well, I help Josh as much as I can, but some things you just have to learn on your own," he answered.

"True that." She sipped her coffee, and stood. "Eggs?"

"Sure."

"So tell me," Arlene began as she wandered over to turn on the stove. "about your family. I don't know anything about them."

Drake leaned back. "What do you want to know?"

"Well, Josh for instance. Tell me about him."

"Eh, Josh is a good guy."

"He seems very …" she waved the spatula she was holding in the air, as if looking for a word. She seemed to find it, and forged ahead, "studious."

Drake snorted. "That's an understatement."

"His girfriend is cute though."

"Who? Horrible Girl?"

"Horrible Girl?" Arlene laughed. "I take it you don't like her that much?"

"Oh, I just ADORE Horrible Girl. We're best friends." Drake rolled his eyes.

"You should be happy though. About Josh being so studious, I mean."

"How so?"

"Well, think about how it would be if he were a total slacker."

"He'd be more fun," Drake decided.

"Dra-ake, no!" She flipped the fried egg in the pan and listened to it sizzle for a moment. "My sister – not April, but my other sister, Lila, was like that. She basically fucked around for four years in high school, and then ended up working in a Mervyns for two years until she got knocked up, and had a kid."

"Oh man." Drake grimaced. "That sucks!"

"Well, she's fine, now – she got her life back on track - she's like, a dental assistant. But for a while, it was pretty bad." She flipped the egg again. "Anyway, I'm just saying that it's really great that Josh is taking such an active interest in his future." She flipped the egg carefully onto a plate, and cracked another egg into the pan. She watched it thoughtfully as it began to sizzle.

Drake, again, digested this information. "So," he began, standing up and wrapping his arms around her from behind, "you like college guys, do you?"

She smiled with a bit of embarrassment. "Of course. College guys are sexy," she grinned, and leaned her head back to kiss him delicately on the jaw.

"You know," Drake began in a faux-patronizing voice, "you really should be dating guys your own age."

Arlene laughed out loud. "Don't I know it!" She giggled, and turned in his arms, kissing him on the mouth, forgetting completely about the egg that was frying behind her on the stove.

**_Figured out what Arlene's deal is yet? If you haven't, once you do you'll think it's totally obvious. Anyway, R/R, and I'll keep writing!_**


	5. Chapter 5

**_I'm just blowing through this story like a mad-woman. Hehe, I'm enjoying writing it, and I hope you are all enjoying reading it. Let me know! Feedback makes me happy!_**

Drake walked into his room later that afternoon, and practically stumbled into Josh.

"Young man! Where have you been?!" Josh put his hands on his hips.

"Aw, Josh. Thank you SO much for covering for me last night." Drake sighed. "Best night of my life, man. And I have you to thank for it." Drake clasped Josh on the shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze. Josh was, however, not going to be derailed by Drake's affectionate appreciation.

"Can we talk, please?" Josh looked at Drake in annoyance. "I'm getting worried about this whole 'Arlene' thing."

"What's to worry about?" Drake tried, but Josh interrupted.

"Seriously. What's going on?"

Drake shook his head, that stupid grin firmly plastered across his face. "It's a long story."

"I've got time."

Drake took a seat on the couch, and put the grande Starbucks latte he had been drinking on the small end table. This did not go unnoticed by Josh.

"What is that?" he pointed accusingly to the coffe.

"It's a latte." Drake looked at him as if he were an idiot for not recognizing the Starbucks label.

"Yes, thank you. But since when do you drink COFFEE?"

"I kinda like it." He looked at Josh. "It tastes like Arlene."

"See Drake, this is what I'm talking about. You meet this girl, you fall MADLY in love, and then you start changing for her. You don't see it, but I do."

"Josh, last night I was in the middle of this great, movie-worthy love scene, and I started thinking about you and what you said about Arlene being different. You remember that?"

"Yes, but I don't see-"

"I think I figured out what it is." Drake looked at Josh who immediately dropped the annoyance, and looked very interested.

"Really? Is she the heiress to a major fortune?"

"What?"

"That was my guess…" Josh muttered. "Nevermind. What is it?"

"Well, she lives with her sister. And she has for eight years."

"So?" Josh was not seeing the grand connection Drake was trying to establish.

"So, her parents live in Pheonix. And her dad lives in Utah, apparently. That's what her deal is."

"Why doesn't she live with her parents?"

"She didn't say, and I didn't want to ask. But I met her sister, you know, the one in the band? I guess she's been living with her." Drake paused. "But think about it – that explains the drinking and the tattoo and the whole …. I dunno, whatever it is that you thought was so bizarre. She's basically on her own all the time. Her sister's on tour right now, and she practically lives by herself."

Josh nodded slowly. "That does make sense, now that I think about it."

"So see?" Drake patted Josh's knee comfortingly. "No harm done." He stood to walk out the door, but Josh realized the verbal trap he had fallen into.

"Hold it right there!"

Drake turned around poutingly. "Whaaaaat?"

"That still doesn't address the fact that you just spent the NIGHT with her. Parents or no, you can't just take on all of her irresponsible habits!" He paused and then pointed accusingly. "I'm watching you, Drake!"

So Drake did the only thing he could do to diffuse the whole situation.

"Oh, by the way, I was wondering if you could sign me up for that SAT prep course you're taking."

Josh's jaw fell open in complete shock. Drake took advantage of his silence, and kept talking.

"You know that Arlene thought you were in college until I told her you were studying for the SAT?" Drake sipped his coffee. "She mentioned that she likes college guys, so …" Drake shrugged.

"Brother? Does this mean what I think it means?" Josh was practically quivering with excitement.

Drake threw open his arms dramatically. "Brother! I'm going to college!"

mnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmn

The weeks wore on slowly for Josh, but all too fast for Drake and Arlene. Drake spent at least one night a week with Arlene, but Josh had decided not to complain, as Drake had since completely thrown himself into a consistent amount of studying for the SAT. They were scheduled to take the test at the end of August, a day which was quickly approaching. It seemed that for everything about Arlene that Josh didn't quite trust, there was something in her that pushed Drake to improve upon himself, so he saw her strange attitude and lifestyle as a necessary evil. It had been two months – the longest real relationship Drake had ever been involved in, to Josh's knowlege. Maybe there was something to this girl.

He got the chance to find out soon enough, when one night Drake invited her over to watch movies with a pizza. Josh came home from his government class to find the two wrapped around each other on the couch, deeply engrossed in 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'. When he walked in, Arlene paused the dvd and looked over her shoulder.

"Hey there, Josh! How was class?"

"Oh, hey Arlene. It was good. Pretty good."

"Good. Hey, you want some pizza? We ordered like, WAY too much." She waved to the several boxes that lie haphazardly about the room. "Oh! And do you want to watch the movie with us? We can start it over."

"No, that's okay, Arlene. You guys go ahead." He started to walk out the door, but Arlene's voice followed him.

"Josh, wait." He turned to see both Drake and Arlene leaning over the couch, regarding him. "I get the feeling you don't like me very much."

"What?" Josh backtracked to the couch. "No, Arlene, I think you're really cool. I just don't want to interrupt your date."

"Oh, it's not a date!" she smacked him playfully on the arm. "We're just hanging out."

"Well, it seems like a date to me," Josh muttered.

"Naw," she returned lightly. "Now tomorrow when Dake takes me out to dinner at Shui… that will be a date."

"You're going to Shui?" Josh asked, impressed. Shui was an upscale Japanes restauraunt on Coronado that was well-known for its fabulous sushi.

"It's been two months since we met," Drake supplied. "I think that's cause for celebration.

Arlene laughed. "Isn't he hilarious?" She grinned at Josh. "So come on. Whadya say? Pizza? Movie?"

"Well, alright, I guess." Josh came and gingerly sat on the end of the couch.

"There you go. School is starting up soon, and I don't know about YOU guys, but I have a TON of preparation to do. So come Monday, I'll be kinda out of commission for a while. At least until after the first few days of class."

"Ugh … class. …" Drake snorted good-naturedly.

"Oh, come on. It's not that bad." Arlene rolled her eyes. She looked over at Josh. "Hey – have you gotten your schedule yet?" She looked excited.

"Yeah, actually. Mindy and I went down to orientation yesterday."

"And? Was I right about Calculus first period or WHAT?" She grinned.

"Oh man! You're right! I do have calculus first period!" Josh laughed a little, and Arlene clapped her hands in excitement.

"Oh GOOD! It'll be nice to have a familiar face in class." She smiled at Josh.

"Oh, yeah! For sure." He looked over at Drake. "Drake? What about you? I mean, I know you're not taking calculus…."

"Dude, you know me. Taking the morning off … I don't have to be in class until 9:00 am." He nodded in approval at his own good fortune. Alrene chuckled under her breathe.

"Well, back to the movie." Drake reached over Arlene for the remote. "This is our last week before school, so we have to make the best of it!"

"Hear hear!" Arlene held up her corona and clinked bottles with Drake's pepsi. And Josh realized that he actually did enjoy Arlene, despite whatever weirdness was lurking below the surface.

**_Alright, we find out what the deal is in the next chapter. I'v already written it, but I have to go to work now, so I'll post it when I get home. But it's pretty good, if I do say so myself... (laughes evilly)._**


	6. Chapter 6

_**Props to Zymio for figuring out the secret ... but don't worry! It's revealed in this chapter! So read it, and then tell me what you think!**_

August 25th, 7:00 am. Josh had his books, his lunch, and new shoes. Drake was still standing in front of the mirror futzing with his hair.

"Drake! Come ON! If you want to stop by the Bagel Boy for breakfast we need to go!"

"Alright, alright," he walked out of the bathroom to meet Josh, his hair finally styled to his standards. "Let's go." He grabbed his bag, and hopped down the stairs. Josh shook his head in disbelief. Drake was actually going to school early. He had gone in and changed his schedule so he had an extra class. AN EXTRA CLASS. He cited something about all of the sudden thinking math was important to his mental development or something, so he had decided to take geometry. Voluntarily. Josh couldn't help but wonder if this was Arlene's good influence, but whether it was or wasn't, he wasn't complaining. Drake had taken the SAT's with him last weekend. And then, Drake had accompanied him to walk around both San Diego State and UCSD, and not for the express purpose of meeting sorority girls. He hated to admit it, but Arlene, the girl he had originally thought to be so frivolous and irresponsible, was making Drake take a serious look at his life.

They got to the Bagel Boy, and Drake ordered two bagels and two cups of coffee.

"Ordering breakfast for Arlene?" Josh asked.

"She does love her coffee in the morning."

"What are all of your other girlfriends going to say when they see you guys together?" Josh asked passively.

"They'll say nothing." Drake shrugged. "I haven't dated any of them in almost three months. They'll live." He shrugged. "Plus, Josh …. The girls at our high school are a little lame, I don't know if you've noticed." They took a seat near a window.

"Yes, I realize that most of them live with their parents." Josh added dryly.

"Yeah, that sucks …" Drake shook his head.

"Drake, can I ask you something?" Josh took a break from smearing cream cheese on his bagel to look seriously at his brother.

"Sure."

"I don't want you to think that I'm complaining – I mean, Arlene's really great. But can I ask …" he chewed his lip uncomfortably. "What do you guys DO all night when you go over there?"

Drake snorted and smiled suggestively. "What do you THINK we do?"

"Okay, see … it bothers me that you're having…" he tweaked his neck uncomfortably and lowered his voice to a hiss "…relations of a sexual nature…" his voice returned to normal, "with this girl that you barely know."

"Barely know? What do you mean, barely know? Just because I met her in June doesn't mean I barely know her. Go on. Ask me anything."

"Alright," Josh got a hint of a challenge in his eye. "Full name."

"Drake Parker."

"Not YOUR full name, HER full name!"

"Oh. Arlene Syliva Cassidy."

"Home town."

"Pheonix Arizona."

"Family?"

"Dad in Utah that she doesn't talk to, Mom in Pheonix, two older sisters: Lila is a dental assistant with one kid, named …uh … Elizabeth, I think? And April, the sister she lives with, is a middle school teacher and also in the 'Hot Pink Police' band. Chick band. They tour over the summer when April doesn't have to teach."

"What does she drive?"

"Nissan Ultima."

"Favorite color?"

"Orange."

"Really?"

Drake nodded. "That really bright 'extreme tangerine' orange."

"Favorite food?"

"Sushi. That's why I spent 75$ at Shui a few weeks ago."

"Alright," Josh straightened his sweater, as if getting ready to pull out the big guns. "Favorite movie, and WHY."

"I'll give you all THREE favorite movies and why!"

"Alright!"

"One: Barefoot in the Park. It's an old movie with Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. She likes how the movie has takes a very honest look at trials and tribulations of a young couple, who, in her opinion, are probably too young to be married anyway. However, the fact that they are married is a 'time capsule', if you will – a very obvious sign of the time in which the play was written – it was a play first- and it serves to add to the charm of the film. She also relates to both main characters, even though they're supposed to be opposing personalities, and she loves that she can see both sides of every argument. Oh yeah. She likes the happy ending."

Josh's jaw fell open.

"And by the way," Drake said, a gleam in his eye. "I watched it with her, and I agree. Next: Sabrina. Another old movie. She kinda enjoys the classics apparently. She has a thing for what she calls the 'quiet but strong classiness' of Bogart and the 'ultimate sex appeal of the unattainable girl-next-door' Audrey Hepburn. I didn't see it at first, but she's right – Hepburn is kinda this little, shy girl who you would think would be easy to get, but-"

"I KNOW who she is, Drake!"

"Geez. Sorry. Just making sure we're on the same page here." He shook his

head. "Anyway, her other favorite movie is Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom."

" Temple of Doom?"

"I know," Drake said, as if this was a tired argument that he and Arlene had many a time. "I keep telling her that The Last Crusade is the best, but she won't listen."

"First of all, everyone knows that Raider of the Lost Ark is the best …. OOohhh! That's not the point. Do you see, Drake? No normal girl thinks those things about movies! This is what I'm talking about!"

"So she's smart. I don't see what the issue is."

"The ISSUE is that you're seventeen, and if, in your unsupervised experimentation into your own uncontrollable hormones gets this girl pregnant, you're going to be in a world of trouble."

"JOSH!" Drake put down his coffee in a huff. "Calm DOWN, okay? Just chill out!" He leaned over the table. "Arlene is on the pill, okay? NOTHING is going to happen. And it's not like that's all we do. Last time I went over there, we didn't even have sex! We played video games, and I played the guitar, and we fell asleep on the cough watching the Late Late show. It's not the big crisis situation you're imagining."

"Just be careful, Drake … please. Now that you're all prepped to go to college, I don't want something to happen to ruin that."

"Come on, brother, don't worry about it. Nothing's going to happen. I promise."

"Famous last words," Josh mumbled, but the pair stood and headed back to the car for their first day of school.

Drake and Josh walked across campus, waving to old friends, and chatting quietly about the merits of one Indiana Jones movie versus another. They finally made it to the calculus classroom with ten minutes to spare before the first bell. Josh looked around, and then peeked in the window.

"I was supposed to meet Mindy here, but I don't see her."

Drake shrugged. "Maybe she's inside." He opened the door, and the two brothers stepped cautiously into the empty classroom. Mindy was not present, but Arlene, however, was standing over one of the desks flipping through a calculus book.

"Arlene!" Drake shut the door behind them, and strode over to her.

"Hey, Baby! What are you doing here?!" She whirled around, and smiled at him. He threw his arm around her and kissed her softly. She smiled.

"Bringing you some coffee for your first day of school," he said, presenting the coffee to her. "Oh! And a bagel."

"Oh my God, you're the best." She took the food with a ravenous look in her eye. She took a sip of the coffee, and smiled as she swallowed. "Just what I needed." It was then that she noticed Josh. "Oh, hey Josh! Ready for the world of calculus?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," he answered. While he had gotten to know Arlene a little more, he was still not perfectly comfortable around her yet.

"Great. I'm so excited!" She sat down clumsily at the desk she had been standing over and began to smear cream cheese on her bagel.

"I barely recognized you in that outfit," Drake ran his hand over the thigh of her black pants appreciatively. "You got dressed up. I like it."

Josh took this moment to appraise her clothing: black pants, and a simple button up white blouse. She was wearing the rust colored jacket that he had admired before, and there were those damn pumps again. Honestly, who wears pumps?

Then a rather horrible thought struck him, one that almost made him wretch. He looked over at Drake and Arlene: Arlene sat sideways in the desk, swinging one pump-clad leg, and occasionally running her foot along Drake's calf. She was drinking coffee and she had a pen in her opposite hand. Could it be…?

The first bell rang, jolting Josh from his thoughts.

"Oh, well, that's my cue to exit," Drake stood, and pulled Arlene into a last embrace. He kissed her again, more deeply this time, until she laughingly shoved him away.

"Hey now, go to school!" She giggled, and wiped lipstick off his mouth with her thumb.

"I'll find you at lunch, alright?" He called over his shoulder as he left.

Arlene just shook her head, and looked at Josh. "He can't honestly think that he's going to walk from his school to ours on his lunch break, does he?" She shook her head, and the pit in Josh's stomach began to grow. Arlene was rolling her eyes. "Dork," she said affectionately, and then looked at Josh. "Oh, Josh! I'm going to run to the bathroom. I didn't even realize it was this late! Be right back." She pushed her way out the door, coffee still firmly in hand. As soon as she was gone, Josh sat heavily in one of the desks. No wonder Drake wanted to go to college. Arlene seemd to be under the impression that he was already IN college. How was he going to get around that? She was sure to see him walking around Bellview High. But more importantly –

"Josh? Hey cupcake," Mindy took a seat next to her boyfriend, and became immediately concerned by his look of total terror. "Josh? Sweetie, it's just calculus. You'll be fine."

"No, no, Mindy, it's not that…I think Drake might be in a lot of trouble."

Mindy rolled her eyes. "So what else is new? What is it this time? Did he let the air out of Mrs. Hafer's tires again?"

"No .. worse …"

"Well what?"

Josh looked around, but didn't want to risk saying anything with so many students filing into the room for class. "Look, if I'm right, you'll know it in about thirty seconds," he said miserably.

Mindy gave him an odd look. "Did he plant a stink-bomb in here?"

"No – Mindy…" he shook his head. He really thought he was going to be sick.

And then, it happened. The door opened, and Arlene strode in, stood behind the teacher's desk, and waited for the second bell to ring. As soon as everyone settled in, she smiled warmly.

"Hi everyone, and welcome to Calculus!" She smiled, and turned around, picking up a piece of chalk. "My name is Ms. Cassidy, and, as most of you know, this is my first year here at Bellview. But I've been told by a good source that this is the school to be at," she smiled at Josh, "so I'm excited for a great year." She looked around on her desk, and picked up the roll sheet. "Alright. I'm going to take roll, just let me know if you go by anything other than what's on my sheet, okay?"

Mindy made a strangled noise that sounded somewhere between a bark and a hiccup, and looked at Josh with an expression of utter shock. For a moment he feared that she may even laugh.

"Mindy Crenshaw?" Arlene asked.

"Here."

Arlene looked up. "Oh! Mindy! How are you?"

"Fine, thanks." Arlene went back to the roll, and Mindy turned back to Josh.

"I see what you mean about big trouble," she said finally, a hitch in her voice.

"Oh no….." Josh moaned, and slapped his hands over his face.

This was going to be a very long day.

**;)_ Hehehehe ... That's a mess. Comments, Suggestions, a note saying 'hi' - I like it all. Thanks for reading, and I'll hopefully update pretty soon. I'm actually getting through this pretty fast, so maybe tomorrow or thursday._**


	7. Chapter 7

**_Here's some more mind candy. Yay!_**

"DRAKE!" Josh spied his brother across the school quad, and took off at a sprint. Drake turned, and saw Josh barreling toward him at top speed.

"Ahh!" He yelped, and tried to dodge him. Josh ran, and tried to stop in front of Drake, but slipped over his feet and fell clumsily into his brother, throwing them both on the ground in an ungraceful heap.

"OW! Dammit, Josh!" Drake stood, and brushed himself off, and reached down to pick up his books.

"Drake! Drake, I have to talk to you!" Josh panted, and pulled himself up to a standing position.

"What is it?" Drake looked at his watch. "Dude, this better be quick. I have to go to fourth period."

"This is really important, Drake," Josh insisted.

"Dude. Fourth period is geometry. You know how bad I am at math. If I miss the first class, I'll probably flunk the final."

"It's about Arlene!" Josh said.

"What about her?" asked Drake, immediately concerned. Josh looked around, paranoia creeping into his eyes.

"We can't talk here – come on, we have to find somewhere where nobody else goes."

Drake knitted his brows in thought, and then popped his eyes up to Josh in revelation.

"The library!"

"Drake, people go to the library!"

"They do?"

"YES."

"Well, I've never been there."

"Yes, I know YOU'VE never been there … Ohhhh! Fine!" Josh groaned, and pulled Drake back towards in the direction of the library.

Once there, the two boys ducked into one of the private study rooms. Drake folded his arms and looked at Josh expectantly.

"Well?"

"Okay, listen. How much do you know about Arlene? I mean, really know about her?"

"Josh, come on man. We played this game already today. I know her middle name and her favorite color and just about anything else you can throw at me."

Josh paused, debating the best way to break the news to his brother. "When's her birthday?"

"September 14th."

"What year?" Josh pushed.

"Uhhh …" Drake screwed up his face and seemed to be counting backward in his head. "Let's see – carry the four …. 1989, Josh. Same as us."

"Are you sure?"

"Come to the point, Josh."

"Drake," Josh sighed. "Arlene is older than you are."

"How do you know?"

"Because she's TEACHING my calculus class!!"

Drake looked at Josh non-comprehendingly. And then burst out laughing. "Oh, Josh – I can't believe you made yourself late to fourth period for this." Drake patted him affectionately on the chest. "Thanks though – that's going to make my whole day."

"Drake, I'm being serious!" Josh put himself in front of the door so Drake couldn't leave. "She's the new math teacher! She's got to be in her early twenties at LEAST."

"Josh," Drake was beginning to get annoyed. "This is stupid, okay? I can't believe I'm saying this, but would you please let me go to class?" He tried to push Drake aside.

"Oh, you don't believe me? Think about it. That would explain everything about her. Why she doesn't live with her parents, why she drinks beer and coffee…why she drives an Ultima! Come on Drake, a Nissan Ultima is not exactly a HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT car – it's an adult car!"

Drake just re-folded his arms. "Are you done?"

"Drake, I'm serious. She thinks you're in college. That's why she's dating you. You have to tell her the truth, or else you guys are going to be in a LOT of trouble!"

"Josh!" Drake finally burst out. "This has gone far enough, really!"

"Fine. You don't think this is for real? Let's just walk by her classroom, shall we? You can see for yourself!"

"Fine. Let's go then." And off they went, glaring at each other, heading for the math wing of the school.

It was true. And it was horrifying. And Drake didn't know what to do. But there it was, plain as day: his girlfriend, his sweet, sexy, perfect girlfriend … was a math teacher. At his school. How would he ever live this down? She was sitting at her desk, taking roll, smiling charismatically at her uninterested class and flipping through a math book. His jaw dropped, and he stared through the window. Josh patted him on the shoulder sympathetically.

"I'm sorry, buddy." Josh said quietly. "I know you really liked her. It sucks that you have to break it off."

"What?" Drake quickly spun his head around to his brother. "I'm not going to break up with her."

"WHAT?!"

"Why would I break up with her?"

"You're right Drake, I can't think of any reasons at ALL." He had to be kidding. This was going too far.

"No, see, we just can't let her know that I'm a student here."

"Drake. NO."

"Josh, yes! See, she thinks I'm in college, right? We just have to keep her thinking that until I actually get accepted into college." Drake nodded fervently. "Then it won't matter!" He looked at Josh. "Promise me you won't tell her."

"No. Drake! I can't lie to Arlene for the rest of the YEAR. And you shouldn't either!"

"Josh," his voice turned pleading. "Please, man. I love her. I can't lose her."

Josh sighed, and looked at Drake defeated. How did this always happen? The bell rang, and the students started to get up for lunch.

"We can't let anyone see us!" Josh panicked.

"Run!" Drake yelled, and they took off in opposite directions, sprinting across the campus, dodging students and faculty as they went.

**_Will their plan work? Haha ... of course not! But it's always fun watching them try._**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Here's a little short one. The next chapter is longer, but it would have been TOO long to tack them together. Not that any of you probabaly care. I'll be quiet now. Let me know what you think so far!**_

Friday night had arrived. Drake and Josh had actually survived the first week of school without Arlene seeing her boyfriend. Josh was emotionally exhausted – even more so than he normally was where Drake's antics were concerned. Even better, he had the evening off of work, and he planted himself in front of the television for a long night of video games.

However, as soon as he had breathed relaxation throughout his whole body, Drake chose that to come charging into the room, throwing clothes off as he went.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Josh spat, as a tee-shirt hit him in the head.

"Can't talk now, gotta run!" Drake rifled through the room, grabbing clothes and accessories as he did.

"What's going on?!"

And then he realized that Arlene was standing in the doorway to their room giggling silently.

"Hey Josh," she managed.

"Oh, Hey uh … Ms. Cassidy."

Arlene walked into the room. Josh noticed that she wore the same suit she had been wearing that day in school, except she had the jacket thrown over her shoulder, and her pumps were in one hand. She padded barefoot over to Josh and plopped next to him on the couch.

"Oh GOD – Josh, don't call me Ms. Cassidy. That's really akward." She grinned, and folded her legs underneath her. "Dude. We're friends. Stick with Arlene." She paused. "In fact, you should probably just call me Arlene in class too. Hearing you call me Ms. Cassidy is just TOO weird."

"I feel like that might make our relationship seem a little inappropriate," Josh said stiffly.

"Well, whatever. I'm just throwing it out there." She shrugged, and turned her head around to where Drake was still digging frantically through his closet. "Babe, you really don't have to rush. We have PLENTY of time!"

"Where are you guys going?" Josh asked.

"Rancid is playing in Orange County at 9 pm tonight."

"You're going to Orange county?" Josh asked.

"Yes, and we're going to leave as soon as I fing my damn shoes-" Drake was hopping around trying to put socks on while still looking for his elusive footwear. "Ok, I think they're in the garage. I'm going to look. Be right back!" Drake raced out of the room.

'Speaking of inappropriate relationships,' Josh thought to himself, and turned to Arlene.

"Arlene?"

"Yeah?"

"Does it bother you that Drake is so much younger than you?" He bit his lip. That was bad. That was too obvious. That was wrong. She was going to find out-

"Mm," she cocked her head to one side. "Well, it's a little strange, to be honest. I mean, I usually only date guys who are older than I am. Not as like, a concrete rule, of course, but I just seem to be attracted to men in their late twenties or early thirties." She examined her nails. "It is a little weird to be dating someone who's still in school, but really, I mean, I only got out of school a year ago, so it's not THAT much different."

"I'm beginning to apply to colleges," Josh tested the waters. "What schools did you go to?"

"Well, I went to USC for my undergrad. I got a degree in Sociology, and a minor in math, and then I did the masters program at UCSB for teaching. I substitute taught for a year in Santa Barbara, and now I'm here!" She smiled. "What schools are you looking at?"

"Well, UCSD, of course. And San Diego State."

"Ah yes – that would be fun if you two got to go to school together. And I know Drake seems to enjoy SD State."

"Does he?" Josh pursed his lips.

"Well … yeah …" Arlene laughed a bit. "You know what? He actually hardly ever discusses school. Aww – he's probably worried that I'll be bored with his college anecdotes since I'm like ... old." She giggled. "He's sweet."

"Yeah, real sweet," Josh muttered. "So you'll be staying at your place tonight, I assume?" Josh asked miserably, having horrible thoughts of Drake and the calculus teacher being accidentally discovered by any other member of the student body. He was almost thankful they were going to be in LA. Less of a chance of being seen by anyone who knew them.

"No, we're actually staying in a hotel, and coming back Sunday morning. I figure we'll hit some touristy crap while we're up there. Just for the hell of it."

He couldn't take it anymore. Someone had to tell her. This was going from bad to worse, real fast. But just as he opened his mouth, Drake burst in.

"Found them! Ready?"

"Let's go!" She popped up. "I want to stop at my place on the out of town so I can get some better shoes. Oh! And I forgot to pack a bikini for the hotel pool."

"Bikini? We're definitily going back to your place." Drake grinned, and Arlene rolled her eyes.

"Oh!" Arlene spun around, catching Josh's attention. "Next Friday is my birthday, and my sister and some of my friends are throwing me a little party. You and Mindy should stop by. It's not at a bar, so you shouldn't have any trouble getting in. I'd love to see you there."

"Will there be any other teachers there?" Drake and Josh asked almost simultaneously. Arlene laughed jovially.

"No, your teachers will not be there. Don't worry so much!" She giggled again and walked out the door. Dralke leaned back in looked at Josh, winked, and rushed out after Arlene. Josh closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then told himself it wasn't his problem and went back to his video game.

**_Poor Josh. Drake gets all the fun, and Josh is stuck at home playing video games. That wasn't very nice of me. More to come!_**


	9. Chapter 9

**_OK, this is hte last one for tonight. Enjoy! Happy Saturday (Sunday morning, now, I guess!)_**

"Where are you two off to?" Came a voice from the couch.

"Arlene's birthday party," answered Drake, grabbing a jacket pulling Josh out the door.

"Wait!" Their mother stood, and leaned on the door. "When will you be back?"

"When it's over," Drake answered. "Come on, Josh."

"Wait," his mom yanked Josh back inside. "When do I get to meet this Arlene?"

"Mom, this is just NOT the time." Drake yanked Josh out the door.

"Drake? Will you be coming home tonight? Or staying at a friend's house?" Their mom yanked Josh back in the house, and gave Drake a meaningful look. A look that said, 'you'll be coming home tonght, whether you had planned it or not.'

"He's coming back with me in a few hours, mom, Geez!"

"I want to meet Arlene," she said, folding her arms across her chest. "You've been spending a lot of time with her, and I'd like to know the young lady my son is so entranced by." Again, her tone suggested that meeting Arlene was not a polite request, but a mandatory obligation.

"Well, you can't meet her tonight," Drake said. "She's going to be at the party tonight."

"Well, why don't I come with you? I'll drop you off."

"NO!" Drake and Josh both said.

"Look, uh … how about you wait a couple of weeks … and uh … I'll…" Drake was searching for anything that would satisfy his mother.

"Invite her to Thanksgiving dinner!" Josh blurted out.

"What?" Drake hissed. Josh shrugged. But it seemed to work; she clapped her hands. "Oh good!" She shoved them out the door. "Alright, guys Have fun. Be back by midnight!" She slammed the door.

"Dude!" Drake smacked Josh. "Thanksgiving?! What the hell?!"

"I'm sorry! I panicked!"

"NOW what?" Drake shoved Josh toward the car. "Dude, she's totally on to me – she knows I've been staying with Arlene!"

"Yeah, I wonder how she figured that out – oh, it's probably the fact that you went to LOS ANGELES with her last weekend!"

"I didn't TELL them that!"

"Yeah, but you told them you were going to a three day math study party. You don't actually think they believed THAT!"

"I came back with my homework done, didn't I?" Drake threw the car door open, and got in. Josh shook his head, and turned the key in the ignition. "Oh," Drake added, his demeanor changing, and his frustration melting. "Will you take me down to the DMV this weekend? I made an appointment to get my driver's license. I want to be able to pick Arlene up for a change."

Josh just shook his head. "Drake … sure I will, but Drake, you have to tell Arlene that your in HIGH SCHOOL."

"Why? We REALLY like each other. It shouldn't matter that I'm five years younger than she is."

"Seven years."

"Seven? Really?"

"Well," Josh gritted his teeth. "Four years of college, and two years of school for a masters – yeah, I'd say seven years. At LEAST."

"In the grand scheme of things, seven years really isn't that much."

"Yes, but you're deliberately LYING to her." Josh turned the corner violently. "Generally speaking, women frown upon that behavior in their significant others!"

Drake paused, and then pouted out the window. "Oh, what do you know." He shook his head. "And what do we do about Thanksgiving? We may be stupid enough to think she's in high school, but Mom and Dad will totally notice that she's older."

"Especially if she brings a bottle of wine to dinner," Josh muttered. "Look. Just tell them you asked her, and she couldn't make it."

"Oh yeah!" Drake looked much happier about the whole affair. They pulled up the small restaurant, and Josh parked the car. "Hey, look." Drake pulled out a small box. "It's Arlene's present. What do you think?"

Josh opened the box gingerly and his eyes went wide. Drake had somehow managed to afford a small, very delicate gold chain with a guitar pendant hanging off the middle. It too was gold, and encrusted with blue, twinkling stones.

"Where did you get the money for this?"

"I sold my bike on E-bay." Drake pointed. "See? Those are sapphires – it's the September birthstone."

Josh looked up. "Wait, you sold YOUR bike? You had a choice, and you sold something of YOURS?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Well, last time you needed money, you sold MY bike!"

Josh was at an impasse. Arlene was making Drake grow up. But the whole situation was just so WRONG…..he looked up at the restaurant, and realized he was about to go to a party with his calculus teacher. And he cringed, because it was probably the most excitement he was going to get on a Friday night for the rest of the semester.

"Drake!" Arlene's voice rang out. Suddenly she was there, jumping into Drake's arms. He hugged her tightly, and she kissed him hard.

"Hey Baby, happy birthday!" Drake kissed her in return. "Look what I got you," and he pulled the box from his pocket.

"Aww! You didn't have to get me anything!" But she snatched the box ravenously and pulled open the top. She gasped. "Oh my God! Drake! It's gorgeous!" She pulled the chain, and fingered it lightly. "Help me put it on!"

Drake took the necklace, and draped it over her neck. It was then that Arlene noticed Josh. "Oh! Hey Josh! I'm so glad you guys came!" She giggled, and Josh noted an almost empty glass of wine in her hand. He wondered how many she had drank.

"I wouldn't miss it!" Drake turned Arlene around, and dipped to kiss her again.

"Come on," She motioned to Josh, and took Drake by the arm. "We've got a table out back. I want you guys to meet everyone!"

They walked out onto the patio, and Josh felt a pang of jealousy when Drake smiled and waved to some of the people in the group. Once again, he didn't fit in. This would be like every party he had ever gone to: Drake schmoozing and ultimately getting the girl, and he was being ridiculed by someone, and then forced to spend the rest of the evening awkwardly being ignored.

"Hey guys, this is Drake and his brother Josh!" Arlene hugged Drake closer and pointed to Josh. "Ok, let me introduce you: Drake, you know April and Sara – uh, Josh – come here." Josh complied, and Arlene began the introductions of the ten-ish people who sat around the table. "April is my sister, you know, the one in the band. That's Sara and Jennifer, and that's Casey behind her – they're in the bad too." Three women waved at him. "Uh … let's see. From the left: That's Spike, Kelley, Ron, Ash, Deb, Chris and, um, over there are Jimmy and Addy. Everybody, Josh is Drake's brother, and he's in my calculus class over at Bellview."

There was a chorus of greetings, and Arlene scooted everyone around the table to pull up a few seats for the three of them. Josh sat down, and tried to hide behind the menu, but immediately the woman on his left leaned in to speak to him.

"Hey, Josh. I'm Casey. Nice to meet you."

"Oh, yeah, nice to meet you too." Josh nodded.

"We've already ordered drinks, but I can I get you something?"

"Oh, uh, no, I don't think the waiter would like that – I'm only seventeen, so .."

Casey smiled. "Sweetie, I wouldn't dream of trying to liquor you up, I was going to get you an ice tea or something." She looked for the waiter and waved him over. "Anything specific?"

"Uh, no –" Josh stumbled in embarrassment. "Anything."

"Oh! Have the caramel milkshake," another woman called form the other end of the table. "It's fantastic!"

"Um … okay."

"Great! Another one of those." The waiter nodded, and walked away to fill the order.

"Uh, thanks," Josh said.

"Addy and Jimmy are expecting in Febuary," Casey whispered.

"Oh, really? That's exciting." Josh tried to look enthusiastic.

"Yeah. Of course, that means I'll be babysitting instead of studying." She shrugged. "Ah, c'est la vie."

"What are you studying?"

"Oh, I'm doing my post-graduate work in performance studies."

"Performance studies?"

"Yeah. I'm actually doing my work in 'movie magicians'."  
"Really?" Josh asked, now completely interested. "You're into magic?"

"Well, mostly in how magicians are portrayed historically in film. I mean, there are a lot of those tropes and themes that I'm discussing as well … I'm sorry, this is probably really boring."

"No!" Josh exclaimed. "I think it's awesome! I mean, I don't meet many girls-eh, women – who are interested in that kind of thing."

Casey laughed. "That's because you don't meet any interesting women."

And Josh realized that she must be right, and he suddenly couldn't wait to go to college.

Drake, meanwhile, was talking with Arlene and April, as well as the rest of the band. Arlene was, as Drake's self-proclaimed biggest fan, loudly spreading his praises.

"I think you should put out a CD, you know? Like a demo." April suggested. "I can talk to the guy who does our stuff."

"That would be awesome! Thanks!" Drake held up his glass and toasted with April.

"OH!" Arlene clapped her hands. "I just had an idea! Aren't you guys playing at the local tour thing in December?"

"Yeah," said April slowly, and then realized where Arlene was going. "Oh, yeah! Drake, seriously. Get me a CD of your stuff, and I'll see if I can get your band on the list for the San Diego Spinner Show."

"Wait, what's that?"

"OK, so you know Spinner's?"  
"Yeah, I buy all my CDs there."

"Right," April continued. "So, every year they do an event to showcase all the local bands. It has a really good turnout, and a ton of cool people. And there's a lot of reps from labels, too. It's would be really good exposure for your band, I think."

"That would be awesome! I'll get you a CD this week." Drake smiled, and leaned in to kiss Arlene.

"Oh! Everybody! Here's the cake!" The group began to sing, and the waiter brought out the cake. Josh joined in, and as Arlene blew out the candles, leaned over to Casey.

"So, how old is she turning?" And he sighed when he heard the answer from Casey.

"Twenty-five."

**_Fun times. Fun times indeed. Alright, off to bed. Hopefully I can get some more posted this week. How do you all like it so far? THanks to Summerluck for all her reviews!_**


	10. Chapter 10

**_You guys totally rock! Thanks so much for all the love you're giving me. And I'm glad everyone is enjoying my little story - cheers! The plot thickens... _**

**_By the Way, I don't own any of this. If I owned Drake ... well, I'm sure you can imagine what I'd be doing ... Oh, Jesus. I need a man my own age..._**

October 2nd, 7:25 am. It had become a regular occurance on Fridays that Drake and Josh would bring Arlene Coffee from BagleBoys, and then have breakfast together in Arlene's classroom. It was pleasant, and it allowed Drake to see her in the mornings before going into hiding for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, an issue had come up that neither Drake nor Josh was fully prepared to handle. It was something so sinister and so vile that it threatened to topple the tower of deciet on which Drake had based his entire relationship with Arlene. Early October could only mean one thing: Back-To-School Night.

"So, are you guys going to be here tonight?" Arlene asked in between sips of coffee.

"Why would we be here?" Drake asked, clearly confused as to why they would waste a perfectly good Friday evening at school. Or any evening, really. But the fact that it was a Friday made it all the more deplorable in his mind.

"You know. Back to School night." She looked at Josh. "I thought maybe Josh and the rest of the fam would make an appearance."

Drake and Josh's eyes widened, and they looked at each other in a silent moment of blind panic.

"No! Uh, no …" They both began to stutter, when in fact, their parents would almost doubtlessly be attending Back-To-School night. They went every year.

"Aw, too bad!" She stuck her bottom lip out. "I was looking forward to meeting your parents."

"Why?" asked Drake, a bemused expression on his face.

"Because, Drake, I haven't met anyone in your family except your brother."

"I haven't met anyone but your sister," he returned.

"Yes, but my family doesn't live in San Diego. Your does." She threw a pen cap at him playfully. "Come on, Baby! If they're as nice as Josh, here,"she threw another pen cap in Josh's direction, "I'm sure I'll love them!" She looked at Josh. "Josh, please bring your parents tonight. I really want to meet them."

"I'll see what I can do," Josh said miserably.

"Thank you." She winked at him, and then caught sight of her watch. "Oh! Bell's going to ring." She stood. "You better get out of here, Drake. I'm giving a test today."

"Ooh. Sucks for Josh." He smiled, and wrapped his arms around Arlene from behind.

"Eh, it's not that hard. He'll do fine." She leaned into Drake's ambrace. "How's your math class coming?"

Josh perked his ears.

"Better, thanks to my brilliant tutor," Drake kissed Arlene's cheek. "I actually pulled a B on the last test."

"Good job!" She squealed, and turned to kiss him on the lips. Josh rolled his eyes, and in the process noticed several students beginning to mill around the door.

"Uh …uh… Drake!"

"What?!"

"Drake, Arlene – I just think that, you know, the PDA should be kept to a minimum at school, you know?" He tried to move in between the couple and the window.

Drake grimaced heartily, but Arlene came to the rescue. "Oh, Baby, it's fine. He's probably right. It's not the best place," She placated. She leaned in then, trying to be discreet, and whispered seductively, "but a B on a math test deserves a reward, I think."

"Mm, with that kind of motivation, I'll never flunk another class again." He leaned in, but then saw Josh shaking his head wildly out of the corner of his eye. He leaned back, and said to Arlene under his breath before heading out the door, "I'll come by this afternoon and pick you up, okay?"

She smiles, and nodded. "I'll be here. Now go to class!"

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Later that afternoon, Josh sat across the table from his parents, wearing out every lame excuse he could think of to prevent his parents from going to Back-To-School Night.

"I don't understand, Josh, why don't you want us to go?' Walter asked.

"I just think that between both Drake and I, you guys have met all my teachers. No need to waste the whole evening."

"Yeah," Audrey leaned over toward Josh. "and by the way, where is Drake this afternoon?"

"He's uh – out …?" Josh tried. Audrey folded her arms, clearly not believing the story. "Ok, fine, he's out with Arlene."

"I knew it!" Audrey said. "What is wrong with this girl?"

"There's nothing wrong with her," Josh said.

"Then why can't we meet her?"

"I don't know," Josh tried to avoid the third-degree interrogation from his step-mother.

"Did he invite her to Thanksgiving yet?"

"I don't – I don't know, mom … come on –"

"Josh, Audrey, let's discuss how we're going to corner Drake's girlfriend later – for now, let's get back to the issue at hand. I'm sorry, Josh, but I'm going to your school! I mean I've been every year, for crying out loud. "

"No, Dad, no!"

"Why not? If you can give me one good reason, I'll listen."

"There's no, reason, Drake and I just don't want to go, is all!"

"Drake never wants to go." Audrey said. "This isn't news to us."

"Why don't you guys go meet Megan's teachers instead?"

At that moment Megan walked through the room. "No way. MY Back-To-School night was LAST week. And I want to see Arlene just as much as Mom and Dad do."

"Wait," Audrey practically jumped on Megan. "Arlene's going to be at Back-To-School night?"

"Well, she goes to their school," Megan shrugged. "I assumed she would." And she walked out of the room. Josh cursed silently.

"Well, that settles it." Walter shrugged. "I guess we're going, Josh. You better get ready."

"Aww, NO!" Josh stomped up the stairs, dialing on his phone on the way. It rang, but Drake didn't pick up. "Oh, of course," he muttered, slamming his bedroom door behind him. "Drake! Pick up! Ugh!" He slammed the phone shut. He threw himself on the bed. "Drake just had to date the calculus teacher," he moaned into the pillow. He sat up, and grabbed the phone again. He flipped through the numbers, and dialed Arlene's home phone. He assumed that if Drake wasn't answering his cell, it was a safe bet that Arlene wouldn't be answering hers either.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnmmmmmmmmmmmmmnnnnnnnnnnn

"Hey Drake?" Arlene asked.

"Hm?"

"Can I ask you something?" They were laying out in the sun in Arlene's yard, sharing a long patio chair, arms wrapped around each other. Arlene was snuggling into Drake's chest.

"Sure." He ran his hands through her hair.

"Is there a reason you don't want me to meet your family?"

Drake sighed. "No, Arlene, it's not like that."

"Look, if you don't want me to meet your family, I totally undertand. I'm sure you have your reasons." She snuggled in further.

"Arlene, I would love for you to meet my family. The only reason I hesitate is that they're a little – you know. You're kinda the first really serious relationship I've had. And you can probably guess about Josh's love life – My parents have gotten used to the girls that go one date and are never heard from again. I just don't know if they're ready to meet the woman I'm completely in love with." He turned her face, and kissed her softly. "But if you want to meet them, we'll meet them." He paused. "Just, not tonight. I don't think they're going to make it to Josh's back-to-school night."

"Oh, Drake," she breathed, and rolled over on top of him, kissing him as she went. "I don't care! I love you, too, Drake." He grabbed her tightly,. And pulled her down onto him. She kissed him hard, and began to nibble his jaw. He reached around and tried to pull off her shirt, but she giggled, and stopped him. "Drake, I like where you're going with this – but, uh … let's go inside. I'm not going to give the neighbors a peep show."

She stood and pulled him along with her. He followed her, shutting the door behind them, heading for Arlene's bedroom, but as he was walking through the door, the wall phone rang. Drake reached over, and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Drake? Drake! It's Josh! I need to talk to you!"

"Josh? I'm kinda in the middle something here-" he had an intake of breathe as Arlene sidled up to him and sucked his earlobe. "Make this FAST, Josh."

"Oh, I'll make it fast. Drake! Mom and Dad are going to Back-To-School night!"

"What?" All the warm blood that had begun to rush through his body at Arlene's touch immediately came to a halt. "I thought you had that under control!"

"I TRIED, but Megan RUINED it!"

"Megan did what? Oh, goddammit, Josh. I trust you to do one thing…"

"Oh, don't blame this on ME! This is YOUR problem, Drake! You know how to fix this! You need to tell Arlene the truth!"

"Yeah, THAT's going to happen." He suddenly had an idea. "OK, here's what we do – just stall them until after the …" he looked down at Arlene, who had raised an eyebrow at him. "after, you know, any point that might lead to … unfortunate confrontations." He looked down at Arlene, who was giving him a dangerously seductive look. She slowly worked her hands down to his belt, and began to take his pants off slowly.

"Drake?" Josh listened to the very loud silence on the other end of the phone. "DRAKE?!!"

"Look, Josh," he said in a quiet and rushed voice. "Just keep them away from you-know-where…" and he hung up the phone.

"Drake? DRAKE! Goddammit, Drake! How am I going to keep them away from the Calculus class?!" He threw his phone across the room in anger. How indeed? Part of him almost HOPED that their illicit affair got discoverd. Not that he wanted to see either Drake or Arlene hurt, but he was tired of being in the middle Drake's disasters!

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

"Josh! I can't believe you got the TIME wrong!" Audrey moaned. "We've already missed your first and second period classes!"

"Yeah, sorry about that, Mom…I could have sworn the flier said 7:30pm." Josh gritted his teeth as he and the rest of his family, sans Drake, walked the halls of the school. Bellview high set up Back-to-School night every year is a fashion that allowed parents to walk through their child's day at school, spending fifteen minutes in every class, listening to a short presentation by the teacher, and then, if they wanted, getting to introduce themselves to the staff.

Josh had known that it had started at 7 pm. Of COURSE he knew that. But the only way he could think of to keep Drake's secret was to not let his parents meet Arlene in the classroom: and that meant getting there late, effectively missing first period.

"It's alright though, I mean, You've met Mrs. Hafer. You don't need to meet her again." Josh wound his way through throngs of students and parents, showing his family the way to his third period classroom.

"Yes, but what about your calculus teacher?" Audrey looked at the schedule. "Mrs. Cassidy?"

"Um, yeah, well, I'm sure you'll meet her sooner or later." Josh didn't correct his mother's mistaking Arlene for a 'Mrs.' – it was better if she conjured a picture of a middle-aged, married math teacher than, young, attractive Arlene. "But look! We're here!" He pushed his family into the physics classroom, hoping to God they wouldn't run into Arlene or Drake.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Back-to-School Night was over, and Arlene sat at her desk, stuffing the remainder of her papers into her shoulder bag. Drake was sitting quietly in the small room that connected Arlene's classroom and the classroom next door that served as Arlene's office. He had been sitting on the computer all evening, listening to Arlene chat with parents and talk about the wonders of math. He sighed in relief: Josh had managed to avert their own parents from the classroom, and he was eternally greatfull. He had spent the evening thinking about it, and he actually didn't mind the idea of introducing Arlene to his mom and Walter, he just needed the time to be right. And by the time being right, he thought to himself bitterly, it meant that he had to be in complete control of the conversation so that no unwanted information was leaked. Like, maybe if his parents were in both in a coma, she could meet them then.

Arlene poked her head in to get his attention.

"You ready to go?"

"Oh, sure." He stood, and grabbed his car keys. "Come on. I'll walk you to your car."

She smiled. "You're parked right next to me, doofus. You're damn right you'll walk me to my car."

Drake looked behind her to see if there was anyone lingering still in the classroom. When he saw the coast was clear, he pulled Arlene into his arms and kissed her lips. She reciprocated hungrily, and Drake was, once again, very sorry that she wasn't in high school with him. He hated that he had to come up with a valid reason why he couldn't hold her hand or put his arm around her while they walked to the parking lot, but especially on a night when parents and students together were swarming the classrooms, he knew the best he could hope for would be to walk next to her and chat politely. So he grabbed Arlene's laptop, and her shoulder bag, ignoring her protests, and set off out the door, his girlfriend in tow.

They made it almost half-way to the lot when Drake's phone rang. He toggled the laptop and bag, and flipped the phone open to talk once he saw that it was Josh in the caller ID box.

"Josh. Thanks, man. I owe you BIG time."

"It's not over yet," he heard Josh hiss. "Is Arlene wearing a red top and a black coat?"

"Yeah? How'd you know?"

"Because I can see you, and if you two don't get out of there, Mom and Dad will see you too!"

"Oh shit," and Drake slammed the phone shut, looking around wildly for signs of his family. He didn't see them anywhere. What was Josh wearing? He racked his brain, but, for the life of him, couldn't remember.

"Drake? What's the matter?" Arlene asked, looking a bit concerned.

"Oh, nothing – I just … we have to go." He turned and began to walk faster, praying they didn't see him. They turned a corner, and the parking lot was within view, when –

"Drake! You ARE here!" Audrey's voice called out. Drake cringed, and stopped, wheeling around slowly. "Drake, we haven't seen you all day. I thought you weren't coming tonight." Audrey stopped right in front of Drake and Arlene, and Drake saw Walter and Megan scurrying close behind. Josh was running after them, and apologetic look on his face. Audrey was looking expectantly at him, while simultaneously looking at Arlene, sizing her up. "Drake?"

"Oh, yeah. Hi Mom." He said awkwardly, shifting the laptop and bag into a more comfortable position. He didn't need to look at Arlene's face to know that it was beaming. So he did the only thing he could do.

Well, the only OTHER thing he could do after deciding that grabbing Arlene and running was simply NOT an option.

"Uh, Arlene? This is the rest of my family. Mom, Dad, Megan … this is Arlene."

**_Aww, a cliffhanger! I'm so mean. Ah, well, tell me what you think, and I'll get the next chapter up asap. But now, off to the gym to run off les trois lattes I had today at work ... Curse you, Starbucks!_**


	11. Chapter 11

**_Oh my God - You guys are all so awesome! Thanks to everyone for such awesome reviews. Like I told Ms. Lydon, I'm really having a ball writing this story, and I'm thrilled that you all are enjoying reading it! _**

**_Here's the end of the cliffy. WooHoo!_**

His life was over. That was all there was to it. His parents and sister were standing in front of him, looking at Arlene, who seemed overjoyed to finally meet the rest of his family. He studied them, and gauged their reactions slowly. Surely they would notice …? But Audrey looked happy, Walter looked … well, like he always looked, as if he were slightly distracted by something. Drake started to feel a little more at ease, until he looked down at Megan, who had her arms folded, and her eyebrow raised in disbelief. That couldn't be good ….

"Arlene! Oh, it is so nice to finally meet you!" Audrey gushed. "I was beginning to think I would never going to get the pleasure!" She put her hand out and shook Arlene's warmly.

"I know!" Arlene smiled back. "Drake and Josh told me you weren't going to be here tonight!"

"Well, as soon as we heard you were going to be here, we rushed over!" Audrey explained. She looked at Arlene and smiled. "I'm so sorry. I'm Audrey. And this is Walter." Arlene reached over and shook Walter's hand.

"Nice to meet you Arlene." Walter nodded his head.

"Oh," Audrey put a hand on Megan's back. "This is our daughter, Megan."

Drake braced himself. Megan did not put out her hand, but spoke immediately.

"You're Arlene." She stated, as if the thought was completely beyond her realm of comprehension. "Is this a joke?"

"No, Megan," Josh tried. "Just shut up!" he hissed.

"Wait, wait, wait." She pushed her hair behind her ears as if she were trying to straighten out the information in her mind to make a complete story. "You're dating HIM-" she pointed to Drake, "and everyone is okay with this?" She giggled. "Good one, guys."

Arlene laughed uncomfortably. "Uh, did I miss something?"

"Megan, this isn't a joke," Josh hissed again. Megan looked at the two of them.

"You're serious?" She asked Josh, who nodded fervently. She rolled her eyes, and looked back at Arlene with distaste. "Don't you find him a bit IMMATURE for you?" She asked heavily. Arlene just looked more perplexed, and Audrey looked slightly horrified.

"Megan, that's totally rude!" she balked, scandalized by her daughter's behavior.

"Whatever," Megan shrugged. "I thought there were laws against this kind of thing, but maybe I'm wrong." She gave Drake a sneer. Drake returned the expression with a threatening scowl, and then a beseeching look at Josh.

"Megan, a word, if I may?" Josh took Megan by the arm, and dragged her roughly away. Arlene watched with mild fascination.

"I'm so sorry about that," Audrey apologized. "I don't know what's gotten into her."

"Evil has gotten into her," muttered Drake.

"That's alright," Arlene smiled reassuringly. "She's a very opinionated child."

"I could think of some other things to describe her as," Drake muttered again. Arlene stifled a giggle.

"Well, please ignore her." Walter added in. "Now tell me, where did you meet Drake and Josh?"

"Oh, I met them in the beginning of summer at the Warped tour. I was working the merchandise table for my sister's band, and Josh bought a hat from me." She smiled, and Drake was about to breathe a sigh of relief when Arlene changed the subject. "I'm sorry you guys missed the beginning of the evening. It would have been nice to have seen you during the Calculus presentation."

Audrey began to reply with a question, so Drake jumped in eagerly, answering the

query before it was voiced. "Josh is in Arlene's Calculus class," he supplied.

"Really! Well, that's great." Walter gave a friendly smile.

"Yeah, it's been a lot of fun so far. I'm really enjoying the class. And it's been nice to get to know Josh a little better, too." Arlene looked over Audrey's shoulder to search for Josh, who was seemingly having a very animated discussion with Megan in the background.

"Oh, well, Arlene," Audrey began, and Drake grimaced. "I don't know if the boys have brought it up or not, but your invitation for Thanksgiving dinner is still open, if you're interested."

Arlene grinned. "No, they hadn't mentioned it," she poked him playfully. "But that's very kind of you. Thank you."

"Of course, we understand that you'll probably be with your own family-" Walter began, but Arlene cut him off, shaking her head.

"Well, I actually didn't have any concrete plans – the only family I have who's really within a realistic traveling distance is my sister April, and we had kinda planned on having a very low key evening."

"Where's the rest of your family?" Audrey asked, concerned. Drake bit his lip.

"Oh, all over the place, really." Arlene said easily. "In the past few years April and I have managed to make it back home to Phoenix, but it's really just too inconvenient this year, with all the new airport regulations, and all."

"You're telling me," Walter agreed.

"Now, who lives in Phoenix?" Audrey was subtly trying to accrue as much information as possibly without seeming outright interrogational, and Drake was beginning to feel sick to his stomach.

"Oh, well, my mom, and my younger sister, and my niece still live out there."

Drake inhaled sharply, and looked at his mother. Don't ask, he thought at her savagely. Don't ask about the niece…Don't ask about the younger sister ….. Don't' ask! Don't ask! Don't ask!

Audrey's unconscious mind apparently didn't hear him. "Oh, you have a niece! How sweet!" Audrey sighed. "You must have a lot of siblings – who does the niece belong to?"

"She's my younger sister's daughter," Arlene explained. "Yeah, she's a lot of fun."

"Your younger sister?" Walter asked. "She can't be that much younger than you," he seemed confused. Audrey rolled her eyes at him, as if to send the message that it was none of his business to ask such questions. Drake saw right through it. Audrey had probably spent hours training him how to 'innocently' ask intrusive questions. He looked at Arlene in horror, but to his extreme relief, she laughed out loud.

"Yeah, she's only a year younger than I am."

"And she already has a kid – wow." Walter scratched his head with an expression that Drake couldn't really read, but he knew it probably meant trouble.

"Yeah," Arlene agreed. "She had her pretty young." She shrugged. "But she's doing alright. They're all petty happy. And you know, my mom helps her a lot, which is nice." She smiled. "But honestly, April and I were probably going to skip Thanksgiving all together – we're saving all our partying energy for her wedding in a few months."

"Wedding?" Drake asked. He hadn't heard anything about it, and he knew his parents would ask, so he figured he'd take control. "April's getting married?"

"Oh my God. Didn't I tell you?"

Drake shook his head.

"Oh, I'm an idiot!" She laughed. "Yeah, April's fiancé is in Iraq right now, but his tour is ending like, right after Thanksgiving, so they're getting married mid-December when he gets home. I can't believe I forgot to tell you! I totally meant to invite you to be my date!" She gave Drake a toothy grin. Drake just nodded, and glanced back at his parents. Audrey and Walter seemed a bit overwhelmed, which was understandable – so far, all they knew about this girl was that her older sister was getting married, and her younger sister, whom they doubtlessly assumed was still in high school, already had a baby. Drake wanted to fall into a hole and die.

"Well, Arlene, our offer is always open, if you find yourself alone over the holidays." Luckily Audrey maintained her composure, always the bastion of taste and class. Drake gave silent prayer of thanks to whatever deity might be listening for that, at least.

"I really appreciate it. Thank you so much. It was so nice meeting you both!" She looked over to where Megan and Josh were returning. "It was nice meeting you, too, Megan."

"Yeah," Megan said weirdly. "Nice meeting you."

"Well, I should run – Drake? Baby, will you walk me to my car?"

"Sure. Mom? Dad? I'll meet you back at the house, okay?"

"Alright son," Walter answered, but Drake had already rushed Arlene around the corner, leaving his remaining family members staring dumbly after them.

"You've got to be kidding me," Megan finally said.

"Uh, uh, uh …. Mom? Dad? I'm going to follow Drake – Megan and I will catch a ride with him, alright?"

"Alright – drive safely!" Audrey called, but again, her children had rushed around the corner. She stood, a look of contemplation on her face, and then leaned in to her husband. "What do you make of that?"

Walter just shook his head. "I've come to the point where I don't want to know." He turned his wife around, and began to lead her back in the other direction toward their car.

Megan sat in the back seat, looking bemused.

"You're telling me you didn't KNOW she wasn't in high school?"

"No, okay? We told you we didn't know!" Josh huffed.

"Yeah, I never know," Drake admitted.

"But it's so OBVIOUS! You'd have to be a giant boob to not see it!" she laughed.

"And just WHY is it so obvious?" Josh challenged.

"Hello-o," Megan scoffed. "She was wearing pumps. What high school girl wears pumps?"

"Ya SEE?" said Josh triumphantly to Drake, who recoiled, and put his hands up in mock protection.

"Okay, okay. You were right about the pumps. Geez."

"It's not just that," Megan continued. "She looks like a woman in her mid-twenties. That is how old she is, isn't it? Twenty-four? Twenty-five, maybe?"

"Maybe," the brothers mumbled.

"I can't believe she's dating you. Is she really that desperate that she can't find anyone her own age? What's wrong with her? Is she a leper? Or homeless? Does she have really bad breath?"

"No, Megan," Josh droned. "She thinks Drake is in college."

"WHAT?" Megan fell over sideways laughing. "HIM? In college?" She continued to guffaw. "That's rich. She must be some sort of idiot!"

"She's not an idiot," Drake defended in annoyance. "She's really smart. She has a masters degree."

Megan stopped laughing. "Clearly not in medical science," she scoffed. "Or she'd recognize a teenager when she saw one."

"No, it's not," Drake continued. "It's in teaching!" He looked back at Megan triumphantly. His sense of argumentative accomplishment faded, however, when he saw Megan's look of complete glee.

"She's a teacher, isn't she!" Megan squealed. "Oh, boy, are you in trouble. I almost feel sorry for you!" She laughed again. "Almost."

"You had to tell her what the degree was in," growled Josh.

"Oh, she would have figured it out anyway," Drake groused.

"True," Josh amended. They sat in the car in silence, listing to Megan giggle merrily about their predicament the whole way home.

**_Oh Megan ... how are you so much smarter than they are? Hehe...everytime I see her on the show, I just think of her in her little private school uniform scowling at Jack Black and yelling, "Groupie? Groupie? I researched Groupies on the internet. They're SLUTS! They SLEEP with the BAND!" LOL ... if you don't know the reference, go rent School of Rock immediately. You won't be dissapointed._**

**_Anyway, more soon. Maybe even this weekend. Thanks again, guys!_**


	12. Chapter 12

_**I just want to thank you all so much for all the positive feedback. You guys are so awesome - I hope the next chapters keep you just as entertained at the previous. I'm having such a blast writing this thing!**_

**_PS, I don't really own them. I just pull the strings once in a while. OK! Enjoy!_**

Two weeks passed, and both Drake and Josh breathed a collective sigh of relief as the events of Back-To-School night seemed to disappear into the distant memory of both Arlene and their parents. Even Megan had stopped giggling maniacally at every mention of Drake's love life. Drake's relationship with Arlene continued without a hitch, and the brothers were, at least where Arlene and Drake were concerned, carefree. Josh was happy because the SAT results had come in the mail, and, as he had hoped, his scores were impressive. Even better, Drake had managed a very decent 1150. In Josh's mind, his previously directionless bother now had no excuse not to coninue the application process to a four year university. However, with the pressures of the impending journey through college application season temporarily relieved, Drake and Josh both became a little sloppy in their ability to keep Drake's exposure to Arlene at a minimum during school hours. More than once, Drake could be seen diving into classrooms or behind trashcans to narrowly avoid being seen by his girlfriend. But neither Josh nor Drake were prepared for the horrors that awaited them when the Bellview football season really began to heat up.

"Josh!" Mindy Crenshaw stalked up to Josh's locker one Wednesday after school, and tapped her foot impatiently while Josh fumled with his books.

"Yeah, Mindy?"

"We have a big problem," she hissed, looking clearly annoyed.

"Uh, what is it?"

"Well, as you know, the homecoming game and dance is fast approaching."

"Oh, yeah! I know!" Josh threw his bag over his shoulder, and searched his brain quickly for why this event might pose problematic. "I was going to ask you to go with, me, if thats what you're worried about."

Mindy's disposition changed to one of bemusement. "Josh, I assumed you were going with me. You ARE my boyfriend." She patted him affectionately on the shoulder, but immediately returned to her previous, irritated stance. "That's not the issue. The issue is your idiot brother and his refusal to be honest with OUR Calculus teacher!"

"I know he's an idiot," Josh agreed. "What does that have to do with homecoming?"

"As a member of the Bellview high journalism staff, I am, shall we say, privy to certain information that you loyal readers won't find out until Friday when the paper comes out."

Josh grew suddenly excited. "Do you know the secret theme of the Homecoming Dance? Ohhhh …. Tell me!"

"Of course I do!" Josh looked at her expectantly. "But I'm not telling you." His face fell. Mindy rolled her eyes and continued. "The problem is that Drake was nominated for Homecoming King."

"So? He's nominated every year."

"Yes. Won't that be cute when Arlene finds out her boyfriend is the homecoming King? Somehow I doubt she'll be as thrilled as Drake's previous dates."

Josh looked at Mindy horrified. "Damn his insipid popularity!" He lowered his voice. "What should we do?"

Mindy shrugged. "What CAN we do? It's not like we can change the voting."

Josh saw Drake out of the corner of his eye, and rushed over to him, yanking him over to his locker with Mindy.

"Whoa whoa whoa! What's the deal?"

"Dude!" Josh hissed. "You got nominated for Homecoming King!"

"Of course I did," he shrugged. "Dude. I get nominated every year."

"Drake, as much as I hate to look out for your personal well-being, what happens if you win?" Mindy asked pointedly.

"Same thing as last year. I'll drive around the stadium with a hot girl and a convertible, I'll wave, and everyone will cheer." He smiled cockily. "Not really a big deal."

"Yeah, Drake, I'm sure Arlene will be cheering WILDLY for you." Josh snapped, and Drake got a twisted look on his face.

"Oh …"

"Yeah," Josh rolled his eyes. "Oh."

Drake recovered quickly with a snap of his fingers. "I'll just tell the principal that I can't be at the game," he suggested.

"Huh?"

"It's one of the Homecoming bylaws. I have to be AT the game to accept the nomination. If the nominee cannot personally accept his or her nomination due to absence at the previously stated function," Drake quoted, "he/she cannot be considered in the Homecoming competition."

Josh raised an eyebrow, and looked over at Mindy. "He's actually right," she shrugged darkly. Josh turned back to Drake.

"You know the Homecoming rules and bylaws of our high school, but you didn't know that there was a NEW Jersey?"

"Dude, the homecoming rules are important."

Josh sighed. "Headaches…" He massaged the bridge of his nose. "Well, at least we have a way out of this problem."

"What about the bulliton notices that the teachers read? They've already been printed and distributed. Arlene will still read his name in first period." Mindy reminded impatiently.

"Ok – here's what we do," Drake began. "Josh – when Arlene's about to read the bulliton, you distract her by throwing your calculus book at Creature. Creature, you get on the floor and pretent to go into a head-trauma related coma. Or, if you could actually go into a coma, that would be even more believeable. And then, when Arlene is doing CPR, Josh – you steal the bulliton." He looked form Josh to Mindy. Mindy shook her head in disgust, and Josh just stared.

"OK, worst plan EVER. Drake, that is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. First of all, I'm NOT going to throw a book at Mindy's HEAD," Josh said loudly.

"That was the best part of the plan," Drake muttered, and Josh balked.

"Come on. If you want our help, you're going to have to be nice to us. BOTH of us," came Josh's final ultimatum. Mindy and Josh stood together, and gave Dake an expectant stare.

"Plus, if Arlene gave me CPR, and kissed you, it would almost be like your lips were touching mine," Mindy pointed out. Drake jumped back in horror.

"Fine, fine. I'll be nice to Creature!" Drake finally agreed, shuddering dramatically.

"Good enough for me," Mindy said. "Now listen. There are three things that need to happen here. One, Drake needs to talk to the principal to give his pre-emptive secession from the Homecoming election. Two, The bulliton needs to be pulled from Arlene's mailbox in the office, and three, Drake's name has to taken out of the newspaper and the Homecoming voting ballots." She looked from Drake to Josh. "Now, while Drake is talking to the principal, I can change the newspaper and all the ballots in the journalism room. Josh that means you have to get the bulliton from Arlene's mailbox." Josh nodded in comprehension, and Drake shrugged in nonchalant agreement.

"Ok! Let's go!" Josh took off running, and Mindy and Drake simply watched him go.

"You know, he's going to hurt himself, running around like that in the halls," Drake commented. Josh turned the corner, and a few seconds later, a loud crash and some accompanying squeals were heard.

"I'm okay…." Came Josh's voice from around the corner.

"Yup," said Mindy. She turned and headed backl the journalism room, and Drake began heading toward his fallen brother, to pick him up and drag him to the office.

**_They're in it again. He really should just tell her the truth. But if he did that, there wouldn't really be that much of a story, now would there?_**

**_Coming up next: The homecoming game, Thanksgiving, and Arlene's sister's wedding! Can they do it? Stay tuned!_**

**_On another note ... it's been a while since I applied to college, but I heard that people don't actually take the SATs anymore. Is that true? Did I totally date myself in this chapter? Ouch... Ah well, I don't know what else they do to determine whether or not people get accepted to college, so until I know better, goddammit, my characters still take the damn SAT._**


	13. Chapter 13

**_Yay! Mindy to the rescue! I actually think Josh was really stupid to break up with her. So, in my universe, they're still together. Oh. And I think Mrs. Hayfer is HI-larious._**

Bellview high school Administrative office, 4:10 pm. Josh poked his head into the office door, and looked furtively from side to side. He stepped through the door, and plastered himself against the wall, moving as slowly and as spy-like as he could manage. He leaned his head over to whisper to Drake, but Drake wasn't there. He sighed, and went to the door, and yanked his brother inside.

"Ouch!" hissed Drake, slapping Josh's hand away.

"Would you go!" Josh pointed to the principals office. Drake began to walk, and Josh hissed after him, "Careful!"

"Okay, 007, chill out!" Drake put his hands up defensively, and knocked on the principal's door. He opened it, and went inside, leaving Josh alone in the office. All of the secretaries had gone home for the day, leaving an empty room of desks and filing cabinets. He snuck around the walls until he came to the teacher's mailboxes.

"Okay, let's see," he read the mailbox names off, searching for Arlene. "Aaric, Alacar, Arity, Briega, Cassidy!" He slowly reached up and grabbed the stack of papers out of Arlene's mailbox, making sure that the bulliton with the Homecoming nominees was accounted for. He gave himself a silent high five, and was about to head out, when he heard a most distressing sound. Arlene was talking, and her voice was slowly getting closer …. She was heading toward the administrative office, chatting with Mrs. Hayfer! Josh screamed silently, and tried to hide. He dove behind a chair – no, it didn't hide him well enough. He dove behind a desk – yes that was good - until a thought struck him. What if Drake walked out of the principal's office into the room with Arlene and Mrs. Hayfer? Josh did the only thing he could do, and ran to the principal's door.

"Josh?" It didn't matter if it was Mrs. Hayfer or Arlene that said his name. What mattered was that they had seen him. He turned slowly, and forced a smile at the two women standing in the administrative office.

"Hey Mrs. Hayfer. Hey Arle-uh, uh … Ms. Cassidy" Josh choked out.

Arlene giggled slightly and winked at him in understanding. "What are you doing here, Josh? School's been out for a while now."

"Oh, I just, uh … needed to … talk to the principal about some stuff. You know."

"About the roll sheets?" Mrs. Hayfer asked in confusion.

Josh looked at her. "Roll sheets?"

"Yes," Mrs. Hayfer continued. "You have a stack of roll sheets in your hand."

Josh looked down. On top of the stack of bullitons and paperwork for Arlene was a pile of roll sheets. His nostrils flared. He was going to kill Drake….. but first they both had to get out of this situation alive. "Oh, actually, Arle-Ms. Cassidy…. This is your mail." He cursed silently, and walked over to hand Arlene her mail. "I noticed you had some in your box, and I was going to bring it to you on my way to the car. You know, after I talked to the principal." He clumsily handed Arlene her stack of papers.

Arlene smiled. "Thanks, Josh. Now I guess we can actually have a builliton this Friday, eh?" She laughed, and turned to Mrs. Hayfer. "I swear, I can never remember to get my mail. I don't think I've read the Friday bulliton once this semester." She rifled through the stack somewhat carelessly. "Look at this! This stuff is from before Back-To-School night!"

Josh seethed silently, and didn't even bother to listen to Mrs, Hayfer's response. Of COURSE she never got her mail. Now he was definitely going to kill Drake. Drake! He suddenly remembered his brother in the office behind him, and practically dove for the door.

"Josh!" He turned and saw Arlene looking at him strangely. "You seem jumpy. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"No, no. I'm just going to go talk to the principal now." He had his hand on the door. Almost there…..

"Alright Josh, see you later," Mrs. Hayfer added. She turned to Arlene. "Hold on, Arlene, I'm going to get some coffee." She headed over to the staff coffeemaker, and began looking for a mug. "I used to have my OWN mug," she said loudly in Josh's direction, "until your brother used it to collect the chewing gum from under his desk."

"He washed it," Josh said in Drake's defense, ignoring Arlene's stifled giggles.

"Yes," Mrs. Hayfer turned around. "And then never returned it." She found a mug in a cupboard, and switched on the coffee pot. She looked over her shoulder at Arlene. "Do you KNOW Drake Parker? The bane of my existence as a teacher?"

Arlene nodded and was about to answer when Josh cut in. "Who doesn't know Drake?" he laughed weakly, and shook his head subtly at Arlene. Arlene smiled, bit her lip, and nodded in understanding.

"I've met him," she answered Mrs. Hayfer vaguly.

Mrs. Hayfer sighed. "Yes, well, I hate him."

Josh sighed miserably. "I know."

"But, now, Josh," Arlene said merrily, "We don't want to keep you from the principal. I'll see you tomorrow, alright?" She winked again, and Josh wasted no time in throwing himself through the door to the principal's office.

Once safely inside, he saw the principal, Mr. Catellini, behind the desk on the phone, and Drake looking boredly out the window. He plopped into a chair next to his brother.

"Hey. Did you get the mail?"

"No," Josh pouted. "Arlene already got it. But hey, Arlene and Mrs. Hayfer are out in the office getting coffee, so you have to stall until they leave!"

"Oh, man! This is horrible!" Drake gripped the armrest of his chair.

"Drake, I really think you should tell Arlene. Then we woulnd't have to go through all this!"

"Dude, it's too late now. It's been almost two months! If I tell her that I'm a student, we can't really write it off as 'not knowing' anymore. Shell know that I was lying to her!"

"She's going to find out eventually, Drake!" Josh hissed, but was interrupted by the principal, who cleared his voice in their direction. They looked up: he was off the phone, his hands folded on his desk, patiently waiting for their attention.

"Oh, hey Mr. Catellini," said Drake easily. "Look, I heard from some of the people in the journalism class that I was nominated for Homecoming Court."

"Well, Mr. Parker, you know that the journalism class is entrusted with that information, and accusing any of them of 'spilling the beans', so to speak, would be grounds for dismissal from the class." Mr. Catellini looked from Drake to Josh, a bored expression on his face. "Now, can you tell me who it is that has been spreading this information around?"

Josh kicked Drake under the table in the shin as hard as he could, and Drake grimaced.

"Oh, uh, it was Craig and Eric," he lied, sending a nasty look in Josh's direction.

"But really, Mr. Catellini, they didn't tell us – they were talking about it amongst themselves, and we just kinda … overheard." Josh interjected.

"Yeah, we were eavesdropping, you know?" another kick from Josh. "Ow! I mean, they just said it really loud…"

"Well, boys, thank you for bringing this to my attention, I'll have to go have another talk with the journalism class about indiscretion," Mr. Catellini sighed, as if this were a common occurrence.

"No, wait a minute! That's not why we're here," Drake said. "I'm here because I can't be at the homecoming game this year, and according to the bylaws, that means you have to take my name out of the homecoming King election."

"And why can't you be at the game?"

"Oh, well, uh…" Drake stalled, and Josh filled in.

"He'll be out of town."

"Out of town? Where?" Mr. Catellini looked over his glasses at the two boys.

"New Jersey," Drake supplied. Josh closed his eyes in pain.

"New Jersey?" Mr. Catellini asked blankly.

"Yeah, you know …. It's right next to Old Jersey… Duh."

"What he means to say, Sir," Josh interrupted, "is that he'll be visiting family that weekend, and can you please take his name out of the Homecoming election, since, as he previously stated, according to the bylaws his absence from the game makes him ineligeable for the running?" Josh looked at the principal pleadingly.

Mr. Catellini looked at Drake in disbelief. "You know the school's Homecoming bylaws, and you don't know where New Jersey is?"

"Why does everyone think that is so weird?" Drake asked, looking from the principal to Josh.

"Just stop talking," Josh muttered.

"Yeah, alright, I'll talk to the head of the journalism class this afternoon. I'll have her change all the ballots tomorrow," he dismissed them with a wave of his hand. Josh jumped up, and peeked out the door. Arlene and Mrs. Hayfer were close to the exit, but still talking within the administrative office. Josh looked at Drake and shook his head.

"So," Drake stalled. "Mr. Catellini. Have you ever been to New Jersey? I hear it's nice this time of year."

Mr. Catellini just looked at him silently.

"Okay, I guess not." Drake looked back over at Josh, who watched the two teachers leave the office. He closed the door with a sigh of relief.

"Alright, Sir, thank you for your time. Drake, we need to go. Now." He grabbed Drake by the arm, and the two shoved out of the principal's door, and dodged out the back of the administration office. They hid behind a bench until Mrs. Hayfer and Arlene turned a corner, and then dashed across the quad in the direction of the Journalism room to make sure Mindy had removed Drake's name from any and all mentions of Homecoming.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

The next morning Drake and Josh sauntered into Arlene's classroom early, before class began.

"Hey guys. To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?" She reached over and kissed Drake.

"Oh, you know, just in the neighborhood," Drake said, and then spun Arlene around to face him. He gave a quick glance to Josh over Arlene's shoulder, who, quick as a flash began to pick through the paperwork on Arlene's desk in search of yesterday's bulliton. This was the best plan the two could come up with – Drake would distract Arlene while Josh went on a search and destroy mission for the Homecoming nomination results.

"I just haven't seen you in a couple of days," Drake began, holding her tightly around the waist. "So I decided to stop by."

"Baby, you saw me Tuesday afternoon," Arlene said, but was clearly quite pleased at his comment.

"Yeah, for like five minutes."

"We went to dinner and a movie." Arlene was laughing, and playing with Drake's hair. He leaned into her hand, hazarding a glance at Josh, who was still rifeling.

"Josh? What are you doing?" Arlene tried to turn around, but Drake leaned in for a kiss, and the query dies on her lips.

"Just, uh, looking for my homework," Josh answered quickly.

"Mm, baby, the bell's going to ring. I need to prepare for class," Arlene murmured.

"I don't want to leave just yet," Drake said softly, wrapping himself around her in a hug. He looked at Josh, who shrugged wildly in frustration. Drake lifted one hand from Arlene's back precariously and motioned to another pile of papers underneath her calculus book on the desk. Josh nodded and went to peek.

"Well," Arlene pulled back and looked at Drake. "I was going to see if you wanted to go to the Homecoming football game with me tomorrow night. You know, support the ol' alma mater?" She grinned, and rubbed his chest softly.

"Yeah, sure," he agreed quickly. "I'll pick you up at 6:30?"

"Perfect!" She smiled, but was suddenly distrated by a loud sound from behind her that occurred when Josh accidentally dropped the calculus book onto the desk. "Josh?" She started to turn again, so Drake grabbed her, whirled her around, and kissed her dramatically in a low dip. She threw her arms around him in surprise, and leaned into the kiss. Draka opened his eyes, and looked at Josh, who held up the bulliton triumphantly. He replaced it with the updated bulliton Mindy had printed for them the day prior, and motioned for Drake to leave after looking at his watch. Drake righted himself and Arlene, who looked happily stunned by his romantic gesture.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" he said to her.

"MmmHmm," she managed, nodding her head slightly.

"Good." He smiled, and then headed for the door. Josh rolled his eyes, and slammed the door after he left, folding the paper into his pocket. Crisis averted, he thought, for now.

**_Hehe ... however will Drake ward off all the cheerleaders at the Homecoming game? More stuff soon!_**

**_PS - do y'all remember Homecoming? I personally was never nominated - but I remember my brother was homecoming King one year ... I think my sister was a Homecoming princess as well. Sigh, I was the only unpopular one. So tragic, really. (roll of eyes) ... I'm not bitter ..._**

**_Make me feel better about my uncompromising unpopularity in high school with a review. Hehe. Or just review for the heck of it. Either way. Thanks, Pals!_**


	14. Chapter 14

**_Wow. This took a long time to get posted. Sorry about that, guys. I'm fostering a puppy, which takes up a lot of time, and I've been in tech week for the theater company I work for. So things have been hectic, and on top of everything, this was actually a hard chapter to write for some reason. Ah well, I do love a challenge... Send a little love my way!_**

"Hey Drake," Tracey and Lisa batted their collective mascara-ed eyes as they sauntered by in their cheerleading uniforms. Drake gave a half-hearted wave.

"Oh my God! Drake! Where have you been?" Gretchen gushed, and Drake gingerly removed her hand from his knee.

"Hey Drake, what are you doing tonight?" A girl who's name Drake didn't know asked with a wink as she walked by. Drake grimaced, and put his head in his hands in embarrassment.

"Oh my God!" A rather hyper girl with fluffy brown hair ran up. "I love you!" And then she turned, and dashed away.

"I told you this was a bad idea," Josh leaned over and hissed at Drake.

"Ya THINK?" Drake hissed back. But it was too late – they were already bundled up at the Bellview High homecoming football game, despite Drake, Josh and Mindy's attempts to stall their arrival. It had been a splendid plan: Josh and Drake made a point to be 20 minutes late picking Arlene up at home, and then apologized profusely, and made a 'quick detour' to pick up Mindy. Mindy of course was well wise to the plan of attack, and took a very valiant 25 minutes to get ready once they got there, which put them well past the 7:00 gametime. Josh was meticulous about finding a parking spot, insisting that they park in the back lot on the other side of campus so the car was less likely to get broken into. Arlene pointed out that he parked in the main parking lot every day, but Josh was adamant, and she didn't push the issue. The best stall tactic Drake could come up with was to stop and tie his shoes every three feet, but, as he whispered to Josh, every little bit counts. By the time they actually got to the game and into the stadium, the marching band was just finishing their half time show. And, Josh had reasoned, since most of the students would be leaving the game sometime in the fourth quarter to head over to post-game homecoming dance, they really only had to fumble through one solid quarter of not letting anyone see Drake and Arlene together.

It seemed to work, except for the one small issue of this being Drake's first real appearance at a school function this year, and the girls, sensing their (what Josh referred to as 'Drake-radar') go off, were swarming in droves. So Drake and Josh did what they thought was best, and left Mindy and Arlene to watch the announcement of the homecoming King, Queen, princes and princesses on the half-time field, while they dodged through the crowd to buy nachos and hotdogs. The third quarter was just starting when Mindy and Arlene scooted apart to make room for the two boys and the food. And THAT'S when the seemingly tireless army of girls started to parade.

"Wow," Arlene commented a bit dryly after the 'I love you' girl made her rather spastic appearance. "The ladies seem to love you." She looked at Drake expectantly.

"Yes, we still haven't determined why that is," Mindy supplied.

"Have I inadvertently started dating one of those guys who hangs around their high school, even after they've graduated?" Arlene asked, poking him playfully in the arm. "And here I thought you always came to Bellview to visit ME!"

"No, Arlene, I can honestly say that I am not that type," Drake squeezed her thigh under the blanket that the four of them shared.

"They all seem to know you," she pushed.

"Sure they do. I'm popular."

Arlene snorted, but seemed satisfied, and the game continued smoothly until the very end of the third quarter when a very familiar voice broke the sense of false security Drake, Josh and Mindy had developed.

"Ms. Cassidy," Mr. Catellini walked up to the small group. "How're you enjoying the game?"

"Mr. Catellini! Hi! Oh, it's great!" She looked up and found her boss standing in front of her. He was dressed casually, sporting a very clean Bellview letterman's sweater. She grinned, and then looked sidelong at her companions. "Oh, let me introduce you. This is my-"

"Mindy. Josh. And Drake, surprisingly. Yes." Mr. Catellini cut her off, and looked at Drake with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, you know Drake?" Arlene looked pleasantly surprised.

"Of course," Mr. Catellini harrumphed. "I never forget a student." He narrowed his eyes slightly. "Especially not one who goes on vacation to 'Old Jersey'. Tell me, Mr. Parker, I thought you were going to be gone this weekend? To New Jersey, you said?"

"Yeah, well, the plans fell through." Drake shrugged, ignoring the shallow, panicked breathing from his brother.

"Mmm. I'm sorry to hear that. If you had only known earlier that you would be in attendance tonight, we might have still been able to include you in the homecoming ceremony."

Drake saw Arlene turn and give him a surprised and confused look, but stared straight ahead at his principle. "Yes, well, there's always next year." At this, Josh elbowed him hard in the ribs.

Luckily, Mr. Catellini just rolled his eyes and sighed as if he were very tired. "Enjoy the game. Ms. Cassidy, I'll see you on Monday." They all watched him go, and Josh forced himself to look straight ahead, instead of at the inevitably confused look on Arlene's face. Drake, however, didn't have that luxury. He turned and looked at his girlfriend.

"Yeah, he's a nice guy," he said flippantly.

"What is this about a vacation?" she asked. "Why does Mr. Catellini think you're going to 'Old Jersey'?"

"Clearly he's crazy. Everyone knows there's no Old Jersey."

Josh snorted, knowing full well that Drake was barely aware that an 'Old Jersey' didn't actually exist.

"Drake," Arlene said expectantly. Josh and Mindy both grimaced, but Drake turned

to Arlene confidently.

"Yeah?"

Arlene gave him a look that clearly said something to the effect of 'do you think I'm a complete idiot?'. "Why was he going to include you in Homecoming?"

"Oh. He wasn't." Drake shook his head.

"Yes he was. He said that if he knew you were going to be around-"

"Oh that!" Josh interrupted quickly. "Drake was a homecoming Prince one year in ….high school …. And, you know …" he looked at Mindy, who jumped in to save his lie.

"Sometimes we ask the Homecoming Alumni to present the crowns … and …. Such…"

"But I totally didn't want to," Drake said. "I mean, there's a time in life to move on from those things."

"You're serious?" She raised an eyebrow. Josh inhaled deeply, and Drake elbowed him as subtly as possible.

"Completely."

"But Catellini knows you?" She was still suspicious.

"Sure he does. He never forgets a student, right?"

"Yes, but how long could he possibly have been principal?" Arlene asked. "He's pretty young."

"Oh, well-"

"No, Drake, stop. I know exactly how long he's been principal. Three years."

"That's very true," Drake faltered.

"So, generally I'm pretty good at math, Drake. How does this timeline work?" She wasn't angry, but she was definitely insistent. Drake looked at her, and then at Josh.

"Um, I think Mindy and I are going to head over to the homecoming dance, Drake. I'll see you at home later." Josh stood, and took Mindy by the hand. Arlene watched as the two of them practically scurried away, and then looked at Drake slightly annoyed.

"Okay, now I KNOW something is up." She turned to face Drake completely. "Care to tell me the secret?"

Drake sighed. It had to be now. There wasn't anything he could do. So he ran a hand through his hair, and looked at Arlene. "Arlene, I guess I haven't really been completely honest with you. I mean, I haven't LIED to you, but I've let you believe some things that weren't quite true."

Arlene didn't say anything, so Drake forged ahead. "For instance, I don't actually go to San Diego State. That doesn't mean I haven't applied – I have. I'll be a student there soon, I hope…"

"Where do you go?"

"Well –" He sighed. "Community College. I'm a sophomore at the City college. I didn't tell you, because, well …. I didn't want you to think I was too young for you."

"What?!" She exclaimed. "This was about age? Drake, I don't care how old you are." She shook her head, but then paused. "Wait … how old ARE you?"

Drake took a deep breath. Time to lie to Arlene. REALLY lie to her. He was surprised at how easy it was. "Twenty." He said. Twenty made sense. It was a good age. Not too unbelievable, but not too young to be dating someone who had just turned 25.

"TWENTY!" She paused, and then laughed. "You're only twenty? Oh man, I thought you were twenty-one, at least."

He gave a half-hearted giggle. "Nope. Only twenty."

"Oh, wow … you're so young!" She shook her head. "Now tell me something. .. is that why you don't drink? Because you're not old enough?"

"Yeah, of course."

Arlene laughed again. "Oh Jesus! I thought it was because you were in AA!"

"What? AA? No!" Drake laughed genuinely this time, but then sobered immediately. "I'm really sorry. I should have told you. I was just worried you wouldn't want to be with me anymore."

"Baby, I don't care about that. I mean, sure, it's a little strange …. But it bothers me more that you didn't tell me the truth about it." She smiled, and Drake gulped. "Come on, you want to get out of here?" She smiled suggestively.

"Yeah, yeah I do." He stood, and grabbed as many of the blankets as possible, so she wouldn't be tempted to hold his hand through the remaining students and Bellview staff. He was silent on the walk back to the car, half-listening to Arlene's chatter. He had dodged a bullet, but a bigger bullet was now heading straight toward him. Before, he hadn't been a liar, just caught in a campaign of misinformation. Now, he had blatantly lied to Arlene about his age, and Josh was right, she would eventually find out.

As they walked through campus, he contemplated his relationship. He would never be able to do with her the things he had done with his high school girlfriends: he wouldn't be able to go to the prom with her, or kiss her under the mistletoe at the Christmas dance; he wouldn't be able to hold her hand at a school football game or ditch class to go for a smoothie; in fact, he thought with a passing bitterness, he had spent the larger portion of his senior year avoiding large school social gatherings and hiding in classrooms. The easiest day so far had been the day that Arlene had been out with the flu, and there was no chance of her seeing him anywhere. True, love meant sacrifice, but was his teenage experience a feasible and fair offering to the gods of passion?

They walked through the campus in the darkness, and strains of music became more and more apparent. They turned, and stood on a small clearing behind the gym where the merriment of the Homecoming Dance was bouncing out the seams of the structure in the form of music and swirling lights. Arlene sighed in happiness, and grinned over at the gym. They stood for a moment and listened, and when the up-tempo number segued flawlessly into the familiar sounds of the Top Gun Theme, Arlene laughed heartily.

"Oh man – who ever thought this song would be popular again? Remember when it first came out?" She giggled. Drake raised an eyebrow and nodded absently. "So I have to ask," she turned to him. "New or old version?"

"New," he said immediately, and then cast his eyes to her mischievously. "Jessica Simpson is way hot."

"Oh really!" She grinned and smacked him playfully. He dropped the blankets and grabbed her softly, pulling her into a tight embrace. "Mmm, Drake …. Dance with me …" she whispered into his neck. He swallowed, and continued to hold her, swaying softly. She rested her head on his chest, and he was surrounded by the scent of her hair, an aroma that still made his blood speed with a tiny bit of excitement. He caressed her hair, and looked at her face in the moonlight. Love obviously was blind – as he looked at her now, she looked regal and womanly; a far-cry from a teenage girl. How he ever assumed she was his age seemed an idiotic mystery. But as he held her, the annoyance at the portion of high school he would miss seemed irrelevant somehow, and he grinned into her hair goofily. Ah, l'amour – how it does change a man.

Arlene looked up, and kissed him softly. "So Jessica Simpson is hot, eh?"

"I think that's hard for anyone to deny."

"Would you like me better as a blonde, then?" she smiled, and kissed him again.

His response was immediate. "There is nothing you could change that would make me like you better." It was only after he had said it that he realized how true it was, age difference and all. He picked up her chin with one hand, and guided her lips to his for a hungry, passionate kiss. He wrapped himself around her, and the kiss deepened. They stayed like that for a long time, dancing with the soft music from the gym, even when the song ended and something fast and loud began to play. Two figures, one in love with the boy she thought she knew, making a point to remember every detail of the evening, and one in love with the woman in front of him, trying like hell to forget the secret he kept from her.

_**Thanks for reading! Thanksgiving dinner is the next chapter I've got planned, I think ... LIES! LIES! A relationship based wholly on LIES!**_


	15. Chapter 15

**_Oh man. I've been taking forever to update. Working in the theater just takes SOOO much time ... especially for the last b ig end of the season show. Anyway, sorry about the wait ... and I decided to go a different direction with this chapter. The Thanksgiving Chapter. But it's alright - I'm leading right up into the last big events of the story. Thanks for the patience!_**

"Arlene! I'm so glad you decided to join us!" Audrey opened the door with a flourish, and ushered Drake's girlfriend into the house.

"Me too," Arlene answered brightly. "The more I thought about it, the more I realized that Thanksgiving wouldn't be the same without a big meal." She smiled warmly. "Oh! And here. I brought you wine." She handed the surprised Audrey two bottles of a rather fine vintage merlot.

"Oh! Well, thank you. Um, where did you get this?" Audrey couldn't help but ask.

"Mm. It's the wine April is serving at her wedding next month. She's been ordering bottles, and testing them. This was the one she liked the best, so we ordered a bunch of it, and we had some bottles left over from the wine tasting."

"Ahh. Well. Thank you! And thank April for us as well." Audrey took the bottles, looking fairly impressed by the gesture. "You can put your coat and purse anywhere. Drake is in the kitchen helping Josh cook, I think."

"Great. Thanks again." Arlene shrugged out of her coat, and placed it gently over the back of the couch, and sauntered into the kitchen. She was greeted by a flurry of fine smells: fruits and spices, and a fabulous roasting turkey, prepared by, as she had suspected, contrary to Audrey's suggestion, Josh.

"Hey Baby! Working hard, I see?" she laughed, surveying the scene. Josh was sweating over the open oven, poking a turkey with some sort of cooking implement. Drake was watching lazily, leaning over the kitchen counter, drinking a soda.

He jumped up, and reached for her, pulling her into a kiss. "Hey! You made it!"

"As promised." She wrapped her arms around him. "How goes the cooking, Josh? Are you doing the whole meal?"

"Yes, no thanks to Drake," Josh muttered over the turkey. He stood, satisfied, and slammed the door to the oven.

"Aw, baby, help your brother cook!" Arlene shoved him playfully.

"I did! Look!" Drake hopped over a chair, and pulled open the refrigerator. He emerged with a large platter in hand, a cylindrical, gelatinous, maroon mass jiggling slightly as he swung it around to face her. "It's cranberry sauce. I did that one all by myself."

"You basically opened a can," Josh snapped. "That doesn't count as helping."

"Oh, I don't know," Arlene giggled. "I think it's very post-modern. Now we just need a live turkey, and a woman who looks like June Cleaver smoking a cigarette as she slaves over a saucepan that's hovering three inches above the stove."

Drake and Josh looked at each other, and then back to Arlene, who raised an eyebrow, clearly very amused.

"Drake!" Josh puffed out his chest. "Take your woman and her artistic techno-babble OUT of my kitchen!"

"Gladly." Drake took Arlene by the arm. "Shall we retire to my room?"

"Spledid." And away they went. Josh stood over the stove, muttering to himself, glad that his brother was finally out of his hair. His solace was short-lived, however, as Megan swung through the kitchen door almost as soon as Drake and Arlene had made their exit.

"Hey Boob," she greeted unenthusiastically. "Your dorky friends are here."

"What? Who?"

"You know," she shrugged. "The dorky ones."

"You need to be more specific," he countered. "I have many friends."

"No you don't," Megan countered matter-of-factly. "But all your friends dorky. I can't get too much more descriptive." She plopped down and looked disgustedly at the can-shaped cranberry sauce tower.

Josh started to get offended, but then sighed, realizing he would get no where arguing with his devious sibling. He began to wonder about the identity of his visitors, and decided it must be Craig and Eric. They had mentioned wanting to borrow a piece of video editing equipment from him the previous day at school, and he had told them to come over and pick it up any time. "Alright. Where are they?"

"I sent them up to your room." She said distractedly, poking the cranberry sauce with a slender finger.

"Oh, alright – you WHAT?" He did a double take, and looked at Megan with a horrified expression.

"I sent them up to your room. So what? They know where it is."

"Yes, but Drake and Arlene just went up there!"

Megan smirked. "If you and Drake think that you can get through a whole meal without Mom and Walter figuring out that Arlene's like, thirty years old, you'redumber than I thought. And I've always thought you two were pretty dumb."

"She's twenty five, and they won't find out if we don't let them find out," he retorted, pointing a serving spoon menacingly at her.

"Well, they'll definitely find out if your two boob friends walk into your room and see Drake and their Calculus teacher making out on the couch." She snorted. "That'll be an awkward day in math on Monday."

Josh screwed up his mouth, pointed the spoon at her again, but then let out a frustrated moan and dashed up the back stairs. He reached his room in just enough time to hear Drake yell at whoever was knocking to come on in already, and to see Craig and Eric take a tentative step through the door.

"Nooo!!" He gasped out, and did a flying leap towards his two friends, effectively knocking them both over upon impact, and causing a rather painful roll of three bodies into the room. Drake jumped up at the commotion, and saw Josh, Craig and Eric struggling to detangle themselves from the floor. Josh looked up and made a frantic motion at Drake who assessed the situation. Astutely realizing that he should not be seen with Arlene at that point, Drake grabbed her, and tried to pull her out of the room without being seen.

Unfortunately, Arlene had other ideas. She rushed around the couch to help pull her three students up from the floor. "Oh my God! Are you guys alright?" She pulled Josh off the dog pile first, and hear the muffled whining of his friends from the below.

"I think I have a concussion," moaned Eric dramatically.

"I think I'm dead," whined Craig. He looked up when someone grabbed his hand, squinted, and then gasped. "I am dead! Dammit! Shot down in my prime!"

Eric looked up at Arlene. "Oh my God! It's the hot math teacher! Why are you invading my comatose state!"

Arlene giggled, and pulled the boys to their feet. "Hi, guys. You're not dead, but I do appreciate the sentiment." She folded her arms. "What are you guys doing here? Shouldn't you be at home with your family?"

"They came to get some editing equipment," Josh supplied, immediately ceasing the frantic, angry gestures he and Drake were making at each other when Arlene looked over at him.

"We might ask you the same thing," Eric accused. He turned to Josh. "Josh, if you needed a tutor that badly, we would have helped you," he patronized.

"I do NOT need math help!" He snapped.

"No, guys, I'm here for dinner."

Craig gave an impressed gasp. "You invited the hot math teacher over for Thanksgiving?"

"Have you no SHAME, man?" Eric raised his eyebrows.

"You guys! I'm here with Drake!" Arlene laughed at their antics, but Drake and Josh both cringed. Craig and Eric seemed to freeze, and then both slowly swung their heads to look at Arlene.

"With Drake?" Eric asked.

"THAT Drake?" Craid pointed in disbelief.

"Yes. THAT Drake." She nodded.

"Um, you guys? Do you want the stuff you came for?" Josh interjected, in a vain attempt to distract them away from the scandal in front of them.

There was a pause, and then Eric just shook his head. "Drake …. And the hot math teacher?" He looked at the frozen-in-place-with-terror Drake, and shook his head defeatedly. "I should have known."

Craig leaned over to Eric and whispered, "I want to be Drake Parker. He gets to do everything!" Eric smacked his friend away, but then sighed and nodded in dejected agreement.

Arlene opened her mouth to speak, but her phone went off loudly inside her coat pocket. She pulled it out with an apologetic look at Drake. "It's April. Sorry, I gotta answer it…" She flipped open her phone and walked quickly away from the four boys.

"The hot Calculus teacher is having Thanksgiving with you?!" Eric accused Drake as soon as Arlene was out of hearing range.

"Dude, it's not what you think," Drake tried.

"Yeah," Josh added lamely. "She's just here to, uh-"

"She didn't have anywhere to go," Drake tried.

"And we had extra food," Josh said.

"And I made cranberry sauce…" Drake and Josh looked at each other, and then looked back to Eric and Craig, who very clearly didn't believe them.

"You're dating the hot math teacher?" Eric hissed. "How? How did you do it?" He turned to Josh, and then to Craig. "How does he do it?"

"Look," Josh got serious. "You guys can't say anything about this, okay?"

"Yeah, to be honest, she thinks I'm in college." Drake confessed. "If she found out I was lying to her … I don't know what she would do."

Craig and Eric looked at each other, recognizing the potential the situation at hand had to offer. Finally Craig agreed, "What's in it for us?"

"What?" Drake balked. "Have you guys been hanging out with Megan?"

"Drake," Josh warned. "How about this," he suggested. "Drake's playing a set at the Spinner's New Years Party. How about tickets …. And dates?"

"You'd get us dates?" Eric asked suspiciously.

"No," said Josh. He pointed to Drake. "HE'LL get you dates."

Craig and Eric looked at each other with anticipation.

"Hot dates," Craig said quickly.

"And one for EACH of us," Eric amended.

"Sure, sure. No problem." Drake nodded. "I've got just the girls in mind. Just don't say anything to anyone about me and Arlene."

"Her name is Arlene?" asked Craig. "The hot math teacher's name is Arlene? I feel like I know her so personally now…"

"Well?" pushed Josh.

"Yeah, alright. Deal."

"Good." Josh nodded in finality. They stood in a short silence, when all of the sudden a very excited rush of words that the four of them couldn't help but overhear plunged out of Arlene's mouth and into April's ear on the receiving end of the phone call.

"Oh my God! No, no, I'll be right there! Oh, thank God!" She stood, and began to pace slightly, a huge smile on her face. "That's amazing. Where? Yeah, I think I know where that is … who cares! I'll GPS it in the car." She paused. "I'll go right now. Yeah. I'll see you in like, 30 minutes." She hung up the phone, and ran over to Drake, wrapping him in a huge hug.

"What is it? What's going on?" Drake put his hands on her waist, purposefully ignoring the piercing stares from Craig and Eric and the uncomfortable shifting gaze of Josh.

"April's fiancée is back from Iraq!" she gushed almost incoherently in her excitement. "He just got back today!"

"What?" Drake exclaimed.

"Yeah! He surprised her! He's back! He's there right now! I've got to get over there!"

"Oh my God! Of course! That's amazing!"

"I know, I just … I know! Oh, man, this is … too much!" She reached up and placed a hard, decisive and thankful kiss on his lips. She leaned back and looked at him. "Please apologize to your family for me …. But I have to go. I'm sorry …. I just…" She started to shrug.

"No, no, I want you to go. That's so great," Drake encouraged.

"Oh, thank you baby." She leaned in for another kiss. "I love you." She hugged him tightly, and then practically jogged out of the room.

Drake looked a bit dazed, as did Josh. But as soon as they came back to reality, they realized that Craig and Eric still stood in front of them with rather smug expressions plastered across their faces.

Josh sighed, and began the long journey toward a bargain for their silence. Let the bidding begin, he thought to himself in annoyance. He peered at Craig and Eric.

"Back stage passes?"

**_Alright. I'm thinking maybe two more big events ... the next chapter will be April's wedding, followed by the New Year's Eve rock show ... and after that comes the short spiral down to revealing the truth to Arlene. Maybe 4-6 more chapters? Anyway - thanks for sticking with it. Love you guys!_**


	16. Chapter 16

_**Okay, so to my credit, I've been working two jobs for the last month, and I went on vacation for two weeks. I'm sorry for taking so LOOOOONG! But be comforted - there are only a few more installments to this little story. Thanks for sticking with it! (And I promise the next chapter will be here next week.)**_

The wedding had been beautiful. Drake had never seen April look so blissful. He watched the service out of the corner of his eye, but remained focused on his girlfriend, standing with the other bridesmaids in a delicate Cornflower Blue dress and a small bouquet of lilies and Queen Anne's Lace. She looked happy, of course, for her sister, but there was an emotion in her eyes that Drake could only begin to describe as a blatant adoration of the feeling of love in general. She turned several times throughout the ceremony to lock eyes with him: her expression was piercing, and he had never wanted to reach for her and hold her more than he did at that very moment. Arlene found him after bride and groom had kissed, and took him in her arms forcefully. They kissed as though they hadn't seen each other in years, and April's guests and family smiled knowingly to one another, whispering that maybe there would be another wedding in the near future.

They walked to the reception, hand in hand, Arlene swinging the bouquet in her free hand absently. She wasn't saying anything, but the closer they came to the reception hall, the more nervous he got: Arlene's parents were there. Not just her mom, but her estranged father, as well. And Arlene hadn't mentioned it, but the young bridesmaid standing next to her at the alter looked suspiciously like a younger, slightly plumper version of the two older Cassidy sisters. In his experience of the 'high school relationship', Drake had only ever been in distant proximity to the 'meet the family' relationship tier. And it wasn't even HIS girlfriend whose family he had met. He and his then girlfriend had accidentally wrestled down the stairs into Josh's fancy dinner with Mindy and her parents. He snorted at the memory silently. Not quite the same as meeting Arlene's entire extended family. He mentally prepared as they walked through the double doors into the hotel lobby: now that he had lies in place, he needed a few moments to set the life he had fabricated straight in his head.

"Okay, Baby, I know this is a lot to handle, but I swear it'll be over soon," Arlene whispered in his ear. He looked down at her, and she smiled happily. It was always amazing to him how she could completely morph from the confident, accomplished and dignified woman in front Josh's math class to the giggling, affectionate girl on his arm. It was no wonder that he had assumed she was younger than she actually was – when she was near Drake, she seemed to radiate with an energy and passion seen in very few adults.

"I'm looking forward to it. No worries."

"Everyone is really excited to meet you, you know," she squeezed his arm. They meandered through the small crowd of people in the hall to the large table up in front where the bride, groom and wedding party were seated. Drake pulled Arlene's chair out for her, and let her sit before scooting his chair as close to her as humanly possible. She smiled at him, and then looked around the table.

"Everyone, everyone …" Arlene leaned into the table. "Hey, guys, I just want to introduce my date-" She looked over at Drake, who gave a lopsided smile and pretended to be offended.

"That's all I am? Your date?" He looked out over the table. "Looks like I've been demoted!" He was rewarded with some hearty giggles, and assorted smiles.

"Sensitive, sensitive, sensitive," Arlene rolled her eyes. "Alright, I take it back – Everyone, this is Drake Parker, the fabulous, amazing, love of my life for the last … what? Six months now?"

"Something like that," he murmured, momentarily getting lost in her eyes.

"Drake, this is my mom," she motioned to the woman next to her, who looked like a shorter, middle-aged version of Arlene with long hair.

"A pleasure, Drake," she said. Drake leaned over Arlene and shook her hand congenially.

"And over here is my sister Lila and her boyfriend Frankie, and there is my Aunt Kelsey my uncle Rupert, and Grandma Nadia." She smiled, but her face got a bit less affectionate as she looked over to the man sitting across from her. "And that's my father, and his wife, Winifred."

Drake could sense the tension, but smiled at Winifred, who seemed to be just as old as Arlene's mother, though obviously trying to be much younger and more fashionable. She, in fact, looked quite ridiculous in her teal faux-velvet suit, but she held herself with arrogance. Drake reached over and shook Arlene's father's hand firmly, and then sat back. He put his hand under the table, and reached for Arlene's. She found it, and squeezed it with gratitude.

"Thank you, Arlene. It's always so nice to meet your friends," said her mother tersely. She then looked at her nails appraisingly, and said under her breath, although definitely loud enough for everyone to hear, "I'm glad that all my children turned out so polite that they know to introduce their companions to the table." She sniffed. "Clearly they got that from me." She picked up her water and took a sip. Drake lifted an eyebrow, and felt Arlene begin to grip his hand very tightly.

"Oh, mom," Arlene began slowly, "Have you not met Winifred?"

"I'm sure that I haven't," came the dry reply.

"I haven't either," croaked out Grandma Nadia in a thick Russian accent from the other end of the table. "Why does everyone forget about me!"

"We didn't forget about you," Arlene's father snapped. "I just can't really keep track of who has been introduced to my wife and who hasn't."

"Well, considering this is the first time you've seen either of us since 1993, it's probably a safe bet that we don't know each other." Her mother snapped.

"And no one ever takes me anywhere." Grandma Nadia grabbed a piece of bread with her withered hand, brushed crumbs off the huge rings that bejeweled her fingers.

"Oh no," Arlene said under her breath.

"Baby, my hand – you're squeezing it…" Drake tried, but Arlene was focused on trying to ignore the tension in the air. Drake began to question the sanity of whoever made the executive decision to seat Arlene's parents at the same table.

"Oh for heaven's sake, Leonard," Winifred began. "Stay calm." She reached over and held her hand out to Arlene's mother. "I'm Winifred. I'm sorry we haven't met until now. It's lovely to be here. I'm so excited for your daughter!" She gave a perfectly plastic smile, and Arlene's mother took her hand gingerly, as if it were a sleeping snake.

"Jenny," she said simply.

"And you must be HER mother," Winifred smiled over at the tiny old woman eating the bread.

"What gave you that idea?" Grandma Nadia snapper her head up form the arduous task of buttering a roll with arthritic fingers. "Just because I'm old? For all you know I could be his wife from before her!" She gestured over at Jenny, and then went back to her bread.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply anything." Winifred's hand recoiled sharply. "Well, it's uh, it's uh … nice to meet you."

"Well, I wish I could say the same about you," Grandma Nadia rolled her eyes.

There was a pregnant pause. Drake was biting his lip to keep from tearing up at the pain in his hand, when Arlene looked up suddenly.

"Oh, I love this song! Drake, let's dance!" She pulled him up form the table violently.

"What? This is the backstreet boys!" Drake looked horrified.

"I know. Let's go." She pulled him onto the dance floor, and wrapped herself around him. They began to dance, and slowly danced their way over to the opposite side of the dance floor, away from the table with her quarreling family.

"Oh my God. Sorry about that," she began, leaning her head into his shoulder.

"About what? Making me listen to the backstreet boys?"

She snorted in laughter. "Well, that too. But mostly for the horrible display at the table over there. That was ridiculous. They're SO immature."

He smiled, and leaned down to kiss her lightly. "It wasn't so bad. I'm sure that if my dad showed up to my wedding, my mom would act the same way." He made a horrible face. "And you haven't met Grandpa Nichols … but it's weirder than anything your family pulled over there."

"Even so – that was painful. Really embarrassing."

He spun her dramatically. "OK, so clearly there's something going on there. Tell me the story."

"Long version? Or Abridged?"

"Uh," he paused. "Whichever one of those is the short version."

She giggled. "OK. So basically, my dad bailed, got remarried, and didn't tell anyone. My mom lives with crazy Grandma Nadia in Phoenix."

"I see."

"Aunt Kelsey and Uncle Rupert just hate everyone, and never come out to functions like this. I think the only reason they're here is because they're hard-core republicans, and they support April becoming a military wife."

"Oh, no…" he grimaced.

"Oh yes. And then Lila and Frankie are still the black sheep because of the baby, and them not being married … you know."

"Is it his baby?"

"Nope." She smiled conspiratorially. "But he's awesome. And he's a really great father."

"Well that's good then."

"Still. I vote that we spend as little time with my family as possible."

"I'm strangely okay with that." He dipped her.

"Thank God." She kissed him again. "Thanks for coming with me. Have I told you that I love you?"

"Not for the last couple of minutes," he grinned.

"Well, I do. And actually," she paused, and bit her lip, "I had something to ask you."

He leaned in. "Oh did you now? Well I'm all ears." He leaned over to nibble her neck, but she pushed him away lightly.

"Dork. Stop it! This is serious!" But she was grinning all the same. She looked at him, and held his gaze intently. "Look, I know you're going to be starting over at the University next fall, and it might be kinda weird … and I totally understand if you don't want to do this, or if you don't want to do it right away … but I feel like I want to ask you anyway." She paused and took a deep breath, and Drake felt his heart stop. He suddenly felt very claustrophobic: he had to get away. He had to be away from her and her 'serious discussion'. He felt the walls begin to close in, and he needed something, anything, to distract her. Josh! Of course. He felt around in his pocket for his phone, and carefully speed-dialed Josh. He waited until he heard Josh on the other line in his pocket yelling his name very softly and very muffled, and accusing him of a pocket call. He hung up, and prayed to God that Josh would call him back.

He gazed back at Arlene, and nodded for her to continue. Any second now….

RING!

Drake acted horrified. "Oh my God! Has my phone been on all this time? Thank God it didn't go off during the ceremony." He reached into his pocket, and saw that Josh was indeed calling him back. "Dammit. It's Josh. Let me tell him I'm busy. Then you can ask me what you needed to ask, okay?"

"Oh, uh … sure." Arlene seemed a bit caught off guard.

Drake picked up the phone. "Josh, whats the matter with you? You know I'm at April's wedding!"

"What?" Josh asked exasperated. "You pocket called ME, and then HUNG UP!"

"Dude, calm down," Drake said, ignoring his brother's irritation, and starting right into his newest ruse.

"What? Calm down? I wasn't really that worked up about it."

"Okay, okay," Drake soothed. "It'll be okay. Just uh … hold on. I'm going to find a quieter place to talk, alright?"

"Drake?" Josh was now utterly confused. "Have you been drinking?"

"Josh! I'm serious! I love you man, it's not worth it!" Drake covered the mouthpiece and looked to Arlene. "Aw, baby, I'm sorry. Josh is having some sort of huge disaster …I need to take this. Give me five minutes?"

"Oh. Sure. I think I need to dance with Uncle Rupert anyway." Arlene looked concerned. "Is he alright?"

"Oh yeah. Just, you know, girl stuff. I mean, guy stuff. I mean, you know, homework stuff. Stuff stuff." He gave her a quick peck on the lips. "I'll be right back, and we can finish our conversation, okay?"

Arlene nodded. "If you go out the hall there's a quiet alcove to the left."

"Great. Be right back." He pressed the phone to his ear, and walked quickly out of the room

"DRAKE!" Josh was yelling into the phone. "DRAKE! What is the meaning of this!"

When he reached the small alcove Arlene had mentioned, he shushed Josh loudly. "Josh! Shut up and listen to me! I have a huge problem here."

"Yes," Josh said angrily. "I think that's apparent."

"No, I'm serious!" He lowered his voice. "Arlene is trying to have a serious talk with me about our future. She has something very important to ask me!"

"Oh no," Josh said miserably.

"Oh YES." Drake looked furtively over his shoulder. "What if she asks me if I want to get married?"

"Why would she ask you that?" Josh settled his eyebrows together over his eyes.

"Well, we are at a WEDDING. Maybe it inspired her."

"How was the wedding?" Josh asked, suddenly enthused.

"Oh, it was great! So great, in fact, that Arlene is going to propose to me right now in front of everyone!" He sneered into the phone.

"Oooh," Josh moaned.

"Yeah. What do I do?"

"Wow, Drake. I don't know. I mean, don't say yes, obviously."

"But she'll be so upset if I turn down her proposal."

"Well, don't turn it down, tell her you're just …. Not ready for that. Say you want to wait until after college. That should buy you some time at least."

"Yeah, I guess," Drake sighed, feeling deflated.

"Or you could just tell her the tru-" Josh began, but Drake snapped the phone shut on his brother's last suggestion. He sighed, and headed back into the reception hall. Now or never. He just hoped it wouldn't cause too big of a scene.

He returned to Arlene, and tapped old Uncle Rupert on the shoulder.

"May I cut in?"

"Oh, of course, of course. Arlene, I give you back your date." Uncle Rupert gave Arlene a quick hug, and then set off towards the bar. Drake took her in his arms, and began to sway slowly with her to the music.

"Is Josh okay?" She asked with concern.

"Josh? Yeah he's fine. Why?"

"Well the way you ran out of here, it sounded like he was trying to kill himself or something."

Drake shrugged. "You know Josh. He and his high school drama –" he laughed patronizingly. "Kids these days." He smiled at the giggle his comment elicited from Arlene.

"Well good. I'm glad he's okay. But before you run out of here again, I want to ask you something."

Drake mentally braced himself. "Ask away."

"Well," she looked down at the floor a little shyly. "Now that April is married, she's going to be moving out of the condo, and into the house she and her husband bought last week."

"Okay," Drake prompted, somewhat confused.

"Well, I know it's important for you to have the experience of living in the dorms in college if you want it, but you know, I thought maybe you might want to … move in with me instead?"

Drake was dumbfounded. So dumbfounded, in fact, that he didn't realize that he was holding his breath. He let it out in a whoosh of relief, and let the question settle into his brain. She didn't want to marry him. At least, not at the moment. She just wanted him to move in with her.

"Wow, Arlene, that's – I'm flattered that you would want me around that much." It was true. And as he said it, the idea began to grow on him. He wouldn't be expected to move in with her until at least the summer. And by then he would be graduated from High school, and that pesky issue of her being a teacher at his school would be a forgotten memory.

"Baby, I love you, of course I want you around. But you know, only if you think it would be something you would be interested in." She paused. "I mean, I loved living in the dorms in college – I wouldn't want you to miss out on that if you wanted to do that for a semester, or a year, or whatever…"

Drake put a hand up to her cheek to stop her from babbling. "Arlene, I would love to move in with you. I can't think of anything better than waking up next to you every morning."

Arlene looked up, and a truly gleeful smile began to spread across her face. She grabbed Drake in a tight hug, and he held her firmly, inhaling her scent, and imagining life in a home that was just theirs. No Josh, no parents, no Megan – just him and Arlene. It was nice. So nice, in fact, that he knew he had to do it, no matter what kind of lies he would have to tell her or his parents … hell, he was willing to lie to the Pope if it meant that he could move into Arlene's house.

"I love you Drake," she was whispering into his chest.

"I love you too, baby," he answered, realizing with a start that lying had become second-nature. Crisis had been diverted once again, but the threads of his deceit were running thin – in the back of his mind he knew that one day soon the flood gates would open, and his relationship with Arlene would be swept away.

**_OK, I'll give y'all a little teaser: Everything goes to hell in the next chapter. Oh yes. It will be ugly. STAY TUNED!_**


	17. Chapter 17

**_Here it is. The New Year's Party. I don't own Drake and Josh or anything related. And I don't own the Clash, or their lyrics. And if you don't know Come on Eileen, you should itunes it immediately, because it's kinda a cool song._**

Josh was livid. No, livid was not really the right word – it wasn't strong enough

to fully describe the intensity of the loathing and anger that he felt at that particular moment. And it was only going to get worse. Oh yes, this could only get worse. This was very bad, and he just KNEW Drake would screw this up somehow. And somehow, he, Josh Nichols, would be to blame.

He stood in a slowly thickening crowd of teens and twenty-somethings at the Ibis Club on December 31st, waiting for the New Year's Local Band Showcase to begin. He leaned against the wall with his moca cola and glowered around the room. Mindy was next to him, an equally sour expression of distaste on her face, and he knew it would only be a matter of seconds before she made her strong opinion known to him and anyone else within shouting distance.

"I can't believe you let Drake go through with this. I mean, I don't wish anything good to ever come to him, but this-" she motioned to the crowd, a large percentage of which went to high school with them, "is suicide!"

"I know," he snapped. "But you know how Drake is. 'Gotta play with my band. Gotta be a big musician. Gonna be famous and rich and popular!'" He sulked over his cola, looked at it, realized it was empty, and threw the can on the ground in disgust.

"Are you going to pick that up?" a college kid in an 'Ibis Club' Staff shirt accused, pointing menacingly to the offending can.

"Uh … uh … yes." Josh bent over and retrieved the can, depositing it neatly in the garbage can next to him. The staff guy narrowed his eyes, but kept patrolling. Mindy didn't even notice, and continued to speak.

"Does he not realize that practically our entire high school is here? Someone is going to see him with our MATH teacher, and I don't think everyone will be as easily conned into secrecy as Craig and Eric."

As if on cue, Craig and Eric raced up to Josh and Mindy, huge, ecstatic smiles on their faces.

"Josh! These dates Drake got us are AWESOME!" Craig gushed

"Yeah," Eric agreed enthusiastically. "They're so hot!"

"Great," Mindy said. "Are they having fun with you?"

"Totally," the boys said together.

"Then why are they getting chatted up by the UCSD basketball team?" She pointed over their shoulders, where Craig and Eric's dates had indeed caught the attention of the local college boys.

"Ahh! Mayday! Mayday!" Eric squealed, and the two of them rushed off to claim their dates.

"Josh," Mindy looked at him with her eyes narrowed. "Who are those bimbos?"

"Friends of Drake," Josh muttered miserably.

"Why did they agree to go out with Craig and Eric?"

"Drake told the Hannah-"

"Which one is Hannah?"

"The blonde."

"Of course it is," she bit tersly. "Well?"

"He told Hannah that Craig was the prince of Namibia."

"You're kidding. And she believed it?" Mindy shook her head in amazement. "What about the other one? What's her story?"

Josh squeezed his eyes shut. "Her name is Kiwi. She doesn't actually speak English."

"Oh, Josh." Mindy shook her head again, and leaned against the wall, purposefully avoiding his gaze. "This will be a good story for my parents. 'How was New Years Eve, honey? Did you have fun?' 'Oh yes, mother, Josh and I stood in a room full of sweaty people, listened to some bad music, and then bailed our math teacher out of jail after she was arrested for pedophilia.'"

Josh whimpered softly, and prayed for God to kill him quickly and painlessly.

It was almost 10pm. Arlene, beer in hand (Josh was fairly sure it was at least her fourth one of the evening) was rushing delightedly towards them. Mindy gave Josh a warning look, and then plastered a fake smile on her face.

"Hey guys!" Arlene gushed. "Are you ready for Drake's set?"

"Oh, definitely," Mindy mused.

"Yeah, I think he's almost on. You should go get a good spot near the stage," suggested Josh. "Or, better yet, go backstage, and watch from the wings."

Arlene laughed. "I thought about that, but Drake said he had a surprise for me, and he wanted me right up against the stage." She smiled conspiratorially. "What's he planning?"

"Nothing good, I'm sure," Mindy muttered, but Arlene didn't seem to hear. Josh elbowed her subtly, and shrugged naively at Arlene.

"Well? You guys coming up with me?"

"No." Was Mindy's curt reply.

"Uh, we better stay back here. You go." Josh turned her, and gave her a little push toward the stage. Drake's band was beginning to set up, and Arlene gave an excited little giggle, and hopped away, presumably to set herself right in Drake's line of vision.

"He's planning something?" Mindy hissed at him. "What could he possibly be planning?"

Josh shook his head. "Somehting ill-advised, I'm sure."

"Should we stop him?" Mindy actually looked concerned.

"How can we?" Josh slumped up against the wall. "Look. He's about to start playing. I can't just –" but his voice was drowned out by the first blasting chord from Drake's guitar.

"How y'all doin' tonight?" he asked the crowd. They screamed enthusiastically in response. "Awesome! I'm Drake Parker. Happy New Year, San Diego!" He and the band began to play, and Josh looked over at Mindy.

"It's alright. I mean, how bad could it be?" he asked hopefully.

"You're kidding, right? Josh, he could destroy her life if he does anything stupid!" Mindy threw her hands up. "I mean, who cares about him! It's HER we should be worried about! She's being manipulated here! And she's giving me a great letter of rec for college!" Mindy grabbed the front of Josh's shirt and pulled him roughly to her. "Josh – if Arlene goes, so does my acceptance to HARVARD!"

Josh, for the second time that night, moaned in pain, and prayed to EVERY God he could think of to strike him down.

But as the minutes rolled by, nothing out of the ordinary happened. Drake played some of his new stuff, and the crowd seemed to enjoy it thoroughly. Arlene could be seen in the front row, bobbing her spiky black hair to the beat, and swigging flamboyantly from her beer bottle, but there was no incriminating contact between the two whatsoever.

"Thank you guys. You're awesome!" Drake exclaimed after a song. "Alright, it's almost 10:30 – we've got to let the next band get going, but we've got one more song to go –" he paused for cheering, and then continued. "And this is one you guys all should know … I think the only one who won't is my brother Josh – where are you, buddy?" He scanned the crowd, and Josh weakly smiled as Drake spotted him and pointed. "Ah! There he is! Naw, he's an awesome guy. Just kidding Josh, I love you man." Drake adjusted his guitar. "Anyway, like I said, this is an old classic, but I'm changing it a little – and it goes out to my smoking hot girlfriend! Ready? One, two three FOUR!" And a song that, indeed, Josh had never heard before began to resonate into the hall. But clearly, Drake was right about him being the only one not to know it in great detail, because the rest of the room seemed to go wild. He listened carefully, but at first didn't understand why he would dedicate this particular song to Arlene – it seemed a bit strange, really. And then the chorus hit, and Josh, along with Mindy, cringed.

"Come on Arlene, oh I swear what he means,  
At these moments, you mean everything-  
With you in that dress, oh my thoughts, I confess  
Verge on dirty-  
Ah come on Arlene…"

Drake pulled out of the chord and pointed at Arlene in the front, and then blew a kiss before going into another verse. The kids in the club went absolutely wild. The energy was building, and Josh screamed silently. If he did something like that again, Drake was screwed. Simply, utterly screwed. He bit his lip through the rest of the song, and after what seemed like an eternity, Drake began to end the music:

"Come on Arlene too-loo rye-aye  
Come on Arlene too-loo rye-aye  
Toora toora-too-loora

We are far too young and clever  
And things wont ever change…

Come on Arlene, oh I swear what he means  
At this moment, you mean everything to me

You mean everything….."

The song ended, and Drake threw his guitar around his back dramatically. He knelt down, and put out a hand. Arlene grabbed it, and Drake hoisted her with seeming ease up next to him on the stage. She threw her arms around him happily, and he spun her with a sort of romantic clumsiness. Josh watched, and he saw Arlene say something to him that was lost in the applause, but he saw Drake answer back in an affirmative, 'I love you, too, baby,'. He pulled her up to him, and they kissed, deeply, passionately, and on stage in front of what seemed to be the entire San Diego population under thirty years of age. There were hoots and whistles, but Josh was too stunned to move. When Mindy finally smacked him out of his stupor, he saw that Drake and Arlene had walked off the stage, arm in arm. He looked at Mindy with huge eyes. Mindy shook her head silently, dejectedly. Josh held his breath, and looked around: it seemed that everywhere he looked, there were kids he knew – kids from school, kids from class – and all of them had a look of surprised, delighted scandal on their faces.

And Josh suddenly knew that Drake and Arlene were about to abruptly become a relationship of the past. And that he, Josh, by proxy, was in a lot of trouble. A LOT of trouble. He gasped for breath, couldn't get one, and Josh Nichols fainted dead away.

**_Hey there. (evil laughter) - that was bad. Poor Drake. Poor Arlene. Poor everyone. Now EVERYBODY KNOWS!!! Stay tuned to see what happens next._**

**_PS - thanks for all the reviews! I (heart) you guys!_**


	18. Chapter 18

**_Hello there. Thanks for sticking with it ... I (heart) you guys. Here's the next bit o' drama in the story, hope you enjoy!_**

Years in the future, Josh would think back on those first few weeks in January with a shudder as the weeks when everything fell apart. Mindy would refer to them with a scowl as the days of reckoning. Drake would sigh and nod a little sadly, and then agree that those weeks definitely sucked.

It began on January 1st. Josh, of course, had gone home shortly after Drake and Arlene's foolish display of lustful affection in front of practically the entire student body, and fallen into a mortified sleep. Drake had (rather predictably) gone missing, and Josh was not surprised when he awoke to find that Drake was still out and about, probably with Arlene doing something that he did not want to picture his brother doing. He was, however, quite surprised to wake up to a rather smug-looking Megan sitting on the edge of the bed, holding a portable phone in her hands.

"Megan?!" Josh squeaked, and looked around. He blinked in confusion, and then stared questioningly at his sister. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello Boob," she said, and then held out the phone. "I just thought you might be interested to hear what mom is discussing with her friends on the phone."

"I don't think I would," Josh snapped. "And anyway, that's eavesdropping, and I wouldn't do that to our mom. It's her private conversation."

"Not really," Megan shrugged. "I'm surprised the yelling didn't wake you up."

"Yelling? About what?"

"What do you think?" Megan hit a button on the phone, and immediately Audrey's voice could be heard broadcasting rather shrilly through the room.

"Yes, Linda, yes I've HEARD. And I'm FURIOUS!"

"Audrey, I don't want you to do anything rash, now, I just thought you should know." Came a voice that Josh recognized as Linda Herman, the mother of Tom Herman, a boy who went to school with him and Drake.

"You're sure?" Audrey asked again after a pause.

"Look, Audrey, I wasn't THERE, of course, but Tom told me as soon as he got home – I guess Drake and Ms. Cassidy had quite an intimate moment on stage." There was a pregnant pause. "Did you have any idea about this?"

"Linda, I've MET Arlene Cassidy! She's been dating Drake since … since …. Oh my God, Linda, they've been dating since the summer!"

"And you didn't know that she was a teacher?" Linda sounded incredulous, and Josh's eyes got wide with fear.

"No, of course not!" Audrey was fuming. "Drake never mentioned – SHE never mentioned…"

"And Josh never mentioned?" Linda pushed in. "Josh is in her first period Calculus class."

Josh and Megan looked at each other, and Josh punched the phone off, and threw it across the room as if it were a snake about to strike. There was a calm moment, almost as if life had gone back to normal and there was nothing to worry about in all the world. And then the silence was shattered –

"JOSH!" screamed Audrey. "GET DOWN HERE NOW!"

Megan put a hand solemnly on Josh's shoulder. "It's been nice knowing you, Boob. Some how I always knew Drake would be the death of you."

"JOSH!"

"Oh man, uh uh uh … COMING!" He yelled back sweetly, and hopped out of bed. He dashed toward the door, tripping over his feet as he went. He managed to get out of the room in one piece, but then fell on the first step, and tumbled down the stairs. Megan sat on the bed, and shook her head.

"He fell down the stairs." She paused and then snorted. "Again."

Josh landed on his back at the bottom of the stairs in front of Audrey. He peered up, and saw that Walter was standing behind her, looking terrified of his furious wife.

"Josh, we need to talk," Audrey seethed.

"Yes mom?" He rolled, and tried to stand up. Audrey grabbed him by the arm, and ushered him over to the couch. He fell into the cushions, and looked form parent to parent in horror, having a brief flash of anger that he was once again in deep trouble for one of Drake's moments of extreme stupidity.

"Tell me who Drake's girlfriend is," she demanded. "Everything you know."

"But Mom – I-"

Audrey put up a hand. "Start at the beginning."

"The very beginning?" he asked meekly.

Audrey and Walter just nodded, arms crossed tightly across their bodies. Josh looked from one to the other, and seeing no hope for escape, sighed and began his tale.

"Drake and I met Arlene at the Warped Tour over the summer," he began. "Arlene's sister is in this local band, and she watches the merchandise table I guess. "

"Get to the point, Josh."

"Well, Arlene and Drake hit it off right away, of COURSE, and they started hanging out. We didn't know she was so much older than we were. We thought maybe she just … I don't know, was more sophisticated or something."

"Wait a minute," Walter interrupted. "Just how old IS Arlene?"

"Twenty-five."

Audrey covered her mouth with one hand, and then actually laughed. An angry, incredulous laugh. "I can't believe it. I can't believe it! A twenty-five year old woman with my Drake? Who does she think she is? And a TEACHER no less! She is taking advantage of him in the worst way- I'm going to have her credential for this-" She was beginning to rant, and Josh panicked.

"No! Mom, wait! It's not her fault!" He was immediately sorry that he had said it, especially when it silenced his mother so thoroughly.

"Josh, Sweetie, when a woman her age is carrying on with a boy YOUR age, I hate to say it, but it's wrong. It's an abuse of power."

"No, you don't understand. She doesn't know," he muttered. "Drake told her he was in college. She thinks he's twenty, and transferring into UCSD in the fall. She was a little weirded out to begin with because he was a few years younger than she was, but she decided that since they were in love, it shouldn't matter that he was … only twenty…" Josh trailed off when he saw the blank stares coming from his parents. Oh no, he thought. What had he said to cause that reaction? Had he said… oh no. He had said they were in love. Shit.

"She thinks she's in love with Drake?" Walter asked.

"She thinks he's a college student?" Audrey huffed.

"She IS in love with Drake, and Drake seems to …well…return the sentiment." Josh said. "If anyone is being manipulated in this situation, it's Arlene."

There was a pause. "Why didn't you tell us this?" Audrey asked a little more softly.

"Drake needed me to keep his secret," he answered miserably. "I promised I would." He looked up at his parents. "And honestly, they're so happy together, I really didn't want to ruin it. And she's GOOD for him!" He began to pick up steam, and his voice gained some power. "He's going to college because she made him want to be serious about his future! Have you noticed his math grade is a consistent B? That's because she's tutoring him. And she helps him with other schoolwork too-and he does so much better, because he doesn't want her to think he's stupid." Josh paused. "Come on, guys. I mean, he's kept the same girlfriend for over six months now. She really makes him happy."

Josh saw Audrey's face soften a bit, and his hope began to rise. And then, with a single phrase, she crushed him back down again:

"Josh," she began, "I'm sure Drake really likes Arlene. But if what you say is true, how do you think Arlene is going to feel when she finds out the truth? Not only did the guy she's in love with lie to her … he's a student at the high school she works at. This relationship has to end, and I think that Arlene got the short end of the stick."

"You're not going to tell her, are you?" Josh asked.

"The principle just called me, Josh. I don't have to tell her. At this point she probably already knows."

Josh sighed in defeat. And then cringed and swiveled his head around as he heard the back door swing open, and a whistling Drake saunter into the room.

"Hey guys. Happy New Year!" He walked past his wide-eyed family, and headed upstairs.

"Drake," Audrey commanded sternly, "Where have you been?"

"Aw, you know, here and there," he said, swiveling on his heel. "Went out with some friends after the show. Went to breakfast. Just … stuff."

"We know about Arlene." Audrey folded her arms over her chest again, and looked expectantly at her son. Drake turned slowly, and gave a meaningful look at Josh.

"You know about her?" he asked slowly. Audrey just nodded. Drake looked at his parents and sighed. "Look. So I was out all night with her. So what? It was just one night, and there were tons of people around. Nothing inappropriate happened, okay?"

"So, you don't think it's inappropriate to lie about your age and date your brother's calculus teacher?" Audrey snapped.

Drake froze, eyes wide. "Oh, you mean THAT that."

Audrey nodded. "That that."

Drake turned. "Josh! How could you tell them!"

"They made me!" Josh snapped. "And anyway, like everyone from or whole school saw you kissing her on stage – everyone's parents were calling mom this morning! It's not like she wouldn't have found out sooner or later!"

"Drake, you have a LOT of explaining to do," Walter put his hands supportively on Audrey's shoulders. Drake, looking chagrinned and deflated, walked glumly to the couch and plopped down next to Josh.

"Alright, alright. Should I start at the beginning?"

"I think that might be wise," Audrey nodded. Drake shifted, and thought about where to start the story, when there came a tentative knock at the door. It was so light they barely heard it, but when four heads swiveled to look, there was indeed a shadow at the front window. Audrey motioned for the boys to stay put, and jogged to the door. She turned the handle, and opened it to find Arlene Cassidy. She was huddled into a tight, nervous ball, and her arms were wrapped around her like a fleece cocoon. Her hands were shaking and her lower lip was quivering behind a mess of scraggly, black hair that had fallen unkempt from an otherwise neat ponytail. What appeared to be last night's eyeliner was slightly smeared, and she looked like she was in a state of complete shock.

"Arlene," Audrey said quietly. "I suspect you're here to speak with Drake."

Arlene just closed her eyes tightly at the mention of Drake's name.

"He's right inside," she continued, and then left the door open and walked away. On her way out, she took Walter by the arm, and shooed Josh into the kitchen. The three of them made a mass exodus into safe portions of the house, and Drake was left alone. He looked up, and saw that Arlene's eyes were open, and staring at him, emotionless and empty.

"Arlene," he began, and walked to her slowly. He reached her, and put out a hand, but she jerked away.

"Tell me it's not true," she said clearly, a hitch in her voice. "Tell me that when my BOSS calls me on New Year's Day and asks me what the fuck I think I'm doing getting drunk and making out with a student at a public venue, that he's mistaken." She paused.

"Arlene, I-"

"TELL me, that when I say, No, Sir, that's Drake, my boyfriend, and he tells me, well, Arlene, your boyfriend is a remedial student at the school where you WORK, that he's CRAZY." She looked up at him venomously.

"Arlene, wait. Just calm down."

"What the fuck?!" She yelled all of the sudden. "You're SEVENTEEN?"

Drake didn't say anything. He could think of absolutely nothing to say. So he stood there quietly, and searched for anything other than anger in Arlene's eyes.

"Well?" she demanded.

"Arlene, I didn't mean to lie to you, I just thought that … I thought you wouldn't like me if I was, you know, still in high school."

Arlene paused, as if in disbelief, and then laughed humorlessly. "You thought I wouldn't LIKE you? Drake, I'm in LOVE with you! And now you tell me that you've been lying to me all along? How the fuck should I react to that? And not only THAT, you're a student at the school where I work! Not only is it unethical, it's ILLEGAL, and I'm going to loose my JOB!"

Drake swallowed. He, of course, had never drawn those conclusions. It had never occurred to him that anything but mild discomfort and the phrase 'we'll laugh about this later' would come of his lies to Arlene.

"Well, if we go to the principle and explain everything, maybe you can keep your job," he tried lamely.

"I can't stay here. No one will want their child in a class with me!" She unfolded her arms, and began to gesticulate wildly. "I'm probably going to have to register as a SEX OFFENDER because of this, DRAKE. This didn't just ruin my career, this may very well have ruined my LIFE." Her voice broke all of the sudden, and she threw her hands up over her face. "Why would you do this to me?" She was sobbing openly now, and Drake reached out to comfort her.

"Baby, I'm so sorry," he began, but she snapped her face up at his touch and recoiled violently.

"Don't 'baby' me, you asshole! Fuck you!" Tears rolled freely down her cheeks, and Drake felt his heart breaking. "I thought I was going to marry you! I wanted us to be together, Drake! I thought you were it!" She smacked herself in the head. "But NOPE! You're a goddamn High school student!" She started to laugh through her tears then, a hysterical giggle that made Drake cringe and bit his lip. "We have a meeting with the principal and the superintendent and your parents on Wednesday morning, Drake," she said. "So you can be there to watch my life fall apart." She turned and began to stalk down the street. She got to the end of the walk and turned around. They made eye contact again, and she opened her mouth. When words didn't come out, she just shook her head, and ran the rest of the way to the car. She drove off in a fury, and left Drake standing, alone, embarrassed, and completely crushed in his doorway.

_**OK, so you might think that things couldn't possibly end well after this, but give it a chance ... she's just angry at the moment. Anyway, I suspect another few chapters: one where they discuss stuff with the principal, a quiet, more CALM discussion between the two of them that clears everything up, and then an epilogue... I'm going to try to do a chapter a week, and maybe finish it before I go to LA on the 9th! Wish me luck...**_


	19. Chapter 19

**_We're getting down to the line. After this one, I suspect two more chapters. I hope you guys have enjoyed this as much as I have - I'm getting sad that it's ending!_**

Drake felt like he was on his way to be crucified. He had never been so nauseated in his life. He and his parents drove to school Wednesday morning in complete silence. It was foggy, and the mist made the car windows damp and cold. The streets seemed bleak, even though they were the same streets he had driven down countless times before. Audrey and Walter didn't say a word to him, or each other: it was as if a blanket of deafness and dumbness had settled into the car.

The walk from the parking lot to the principal's office was slow and deliberate. Drake walked slightly behind his parents, looking straight ahead, not making eye contact with any of the students he saw on either side of him. They gave him a wide berth, and his stomach churned more and more as he made his final descent to the gallows. After Arlene had stormed off two days ago, Drake had ample opportunity to sit and think about the consequences of this latest disaster. And somehow losing Arlene seemed so trivial when he thought about the fact that he may actually have destroyed any hope she had of continuing her teaching career. He had gotten himself in too deep, and now he was mired in the ashes of his romantic defeat.

They reached Mr. Catellini's office, and Walter held the door open for his wife solemnly. The three of them stepped inside, and Drake saw that Arlene was already there, sitting grimly with her hands folded in her lap, looking at Mr. Catellini. When the door opened, she didn't turn her head. Drake sat in the chair as far away from her as he could, sensing that she might bristle if he was too close. Walter and Audrey served as a buffer between the two of them.

Drake was in a fog. He saw Mr. Catellini shake hands with his parents, and then sit down, and look over his glasses at him, and then Arlene. He sighed, and began to speak.

"Drake Parker," he began. "I've been hearing some rather interesting stories where you're concerned."

"Yes Sir," he answered as politely as possible.

"You understand that you're in a lot of trouble here, don't you?"

"Yes Sir," he said again, gulping nervously.

"Alright then. I want you to be completely honest with me, okay?"

Drake nodded vigorously, and Mr. Catellini continued.

"Drake – are you and Ms. Cassidy…involved in any way with each other?"

"Um, I don't think we are anymore," he answered sadly.

"But you were."

"…. Yes." Drake resisted the urge to look over at Arlene apologetically.

"And you knew that she was a teacher at this school, and much older than you were?"

"Yes, Sir, but to be fair, Arlene didn't know that I was a student."

Mr. Catellini looked interested. "Yes, Drake, I've heard that you managed to convince her that you were a college student who was of legal, consenting age."

"I told her I was twenty, if that's what you mean."

"That's what I mean." He picked up a pen from his desk, and rolled it around his fingers. "There are several issues that I think we need to address. The first being the legal ramifications." He looked up at Drake's parents. "As the parents, I have to ask you the uncomfortable question of whether or not you want to press charges against Ms. Cassidy or the school as a whole." He gripped the pen tightly in anticipation.

Audrey and Walter looked at each other, and Audrey answered slowly. "Well, Mr. Catellini, we certainly don't want to take anyone to court." She looked over at Arlene and sighed. "Ms Cassidy? May I ask you something?"

Arlene looked ill, but nodded.

"Did you really think Drake was twenty? I mean, was there any time at all that you looked at him, and thought, there's no WAY this guy isn't a teenager?" She paused. "I guess I just find that a little hard to believe – I mean, to ME he really looks and acts seventeen!"

Arlene blanched noticeably. "Mr. and Mrs. Nichols, honestly, I had NO idea that Drake was so young. Of course, when I first met him I suspected that he wasn't as old as I was, but I never even THOUGHT that he was still in HIGH school. If I had, I would never have…" she trailed off, and took a deep breath. "I'm not … like that …. He told me he was in college – I had no real reason to disbelieve him…"

Audrey looked at the miserable, stuttering woman in front of her and sighed. "Mr. Catellini, I don't think pressing any sort of charges is necessary."

Arlene let out a breath that she had been holding, and her shoulders sagged in exhaustion. Drake hazarded a glance, and saw that the bags under her eyes were pronounced, and she had tried, rather unsuccessfully to cover them up with make-up.

"Very well," Mr. Catellini continued. "Now, the next issue is along the same lines – we need to determine the severity of this gross display of irresponsibility." He looked at Arlene. "Ms. Cassidy, can you describe the … level of intimacy you shared with Drake?" He looked uncomfortable, but Arlene set her jaw, and looked straight at him.

"If your asking me if I slept with him, then the answer is no."

Mr. Catellini looked relieved, as did Drake's parents. Drake worked hard to keep his face impassive.

"Drake?" the principal swung his head around and raised his eyebrows.

"She's right," Drake agreed. "We never did … that."

"You dated for close to six months, I've heard," Catellini pushed. "Never in that time period?"

"No." Drake sighed loudly. "Never. We mostly just hung out and went to concerts and movies together."

"Well," MR. Catellini said, "I don't really believe it, but it definitely lessens the severity of the issue." He put the pen down and shuffled papers around on his desk. "Now, Ms. Cassidy – it was wise of you to garner your resignation before the school board had to terminate your employment. While I understand that this issue was not necessarily your fault, my hands are tied where this matter is concerned. I've had COUNTLESS parents calling to harass me and the superintendent since Monday morning. They all want to make sure their children are … in an appropriate environment…" he trailed off in embarrassment. Arlene looked at her folded hands in her lap, and Drake watched her intently. "Anyway," Catellini shook his head. "I can't promise you a stellar recommendation, of course, but I will refrain as much as possible from letting this incident harm your career. You're a good teacher, and I'm sorry this happened – I hate to lose a talented member of the staff."

"Thank you Sir. I'm sorry …. About everything…" Arlene looked positively stricken, and she was shaking her head softly. "I'm so embarrassed…"

"Well, I believe that's all the business we have that concerns you, Ms. Cassidy. I understand you've already picked up your last check and cleaned your room out – I wish you the best of luck in the future." Mr. Catellini stood, and stuck out a hand. Arlene took it and allowed him to shake her rather limp hand before turning toward the door. She stopped only briefly to look at Walter and Audrey.

"I'm so sorry," she said softly, and then looked at the ground briefly before rushing as quickly as she could out the door. Drake watched her go without even a look for him, and then turned back to face Catellini.

"Now, then, Drake. Let's have a chat about your little stunt, shall we?" Mr. Catellini folded his hands over his desk roughly and peered mercilessly over at Drake.

"Yes, Drake, let's do that," Audrey added angrily. The three adults in the room all turned to glare at him, and Drake gulped again loudly – the suffering was about to begin.

**_OK: here's the deal - the next chapter is going to be Drake and Arlene having a little talk that clears the air on everything, and then there's going to be an epilogue - and I can think of two ways the story COULD end, but I can't decide which is better, So I'm going to take a poll at the end of the next chapter, and write the one you guys want to read. Or maybe I'll just write them both. See you soon!_**


	20. Chapter 20

**_So this is for all the people who wanted a scene with Arlene and Mrs. Hayfer. Hope it lives up to your standards... Anyway, this happens before the meeting takes place. Let me know what you think!_**

It was the worst day Arlene could imagine. True, Monday had been terrible, and she didn't think it could be worse than finding out your boyfriend is actually a minor. And a student at the school where you teach. And Tuesday had been pretty awful – she hadn't even managed to get out of bed, and "Come on Arlene" had been playing over and over in her head – she didn't want to keep thinking about it, but she couldn't STOP. By Tuesday night, she had managed to call her mother, he sisters, her boss and her therapist, and started to get her life worked out – she had faxed her resignation to Mr. Catellini by 8:30 pm, and managed to actually keep some food down before deciding to go in to work at 5 am the next morning to begin clearing her belongings out of the classroom. A substitute teacher had already been found for the next few weeks, and Arlene had bought a plane ticket back to Phoenix for Saturday afternoon: just long enough to get her San Diego affairs in order.

But Wednesday – Wednesday was the worst yet. 5:14 am, and Arlene was shivering outside her classroom door. Her first real teaching job – and she had blown it. Royally. She cursed at herself over her cup of coffee – she worked with teenagers every day, she yelled at herself in her mind, and she wasn't able to see through a white lie of a seventeen year old boy pretending to be in college? She slammed the door open, and slammed it shut behind her. She wanted to cry, and throw things, and maybe break a desk or a window. But she didn't have the energy. So she looked at the room around her, and just … sighed.

6:46 am. Arlene was sitting in her chair behind her desk, just staring off at the chalkboard against the back wall. Students had written her birthday messages there earlier in the year. Happy birthday Ms. Cassidy, they had scrawled. Happy fucking birthday, indeed. Arlene leaned back until her head hit the wall behind her, and just looked up – not really at the ceiling, just up through dark, early morning mistyness. The sun had risen, but remained hidden behind masses of clouds that were as dour as her expression. Really, quite fitting.

Clipped steps walked down the hall, but Arlene didn't even look up. They slowed, and then stopped in front of her door, but she didn't care. Whoever it was could go to hell in a handbasket. She stayed aloofly quiet, hoping the affronting party would get the hint and just go the hell away, but the door swung open quietly, and the damn clipped heels stepped into Arlene's classroom.

After a tense thirty seconds of silence, Arlene sat up, and turned to face the iuntruder, fully intending on making them sorry for disturbing her: until, that is, she realized that she was staring into the unreadably twitchy expression of Mrs. Hayfer. She closed her eyes. That was the last person she wanted to see.

"Arlene?" came Mrs. Hayfer's pinched and squeaky voice.

"Yes?" She saw the question in her eyes, but wouldn't make it that easy for her. If Hayfer wanted answers, she would have to ask the question.

"Could it possibly be true?" She sounds disheartened, and a little disgusted, and Arlene wanted to throw her coffee mug at her. Instead she settled for a very cold response, keeping her voice as carefully devoid of emotion as possible.

"What?"

"You know…"

"No, I'm afraid I don't."

Mrs. Hayfer paused, and then looked around. "You slept with-" he voice took on a horrified quality as she hissed his name, "Drake Parker?"

And just hearing his name sent Arlene from calculated and cool acceptance of her situation to barely concealed emotion. And the quick inhalation held enough shame and fury to make even Mrs. Hayfer take notice. "Oh dear," she was saying, "was it really that terrible?"

Arlene snorted and bit her lip. "What?"

"Well, I mean, I hate him, but I'm not stupid. He spends enough time NOT studying – I figured he had to be at least passably decent in bed."

Arlene dropped her head on her desk with a thud. "Is that what people are saying?" she asked in horror.

"Well, yes and no …. Mostly yes."

Arlene moaned something unintelligeable, and Mrs. Hayfer came over to lean on the desk next to her friend.

"I'm such an idiot," Arlene muttered.

"Yes, yes, you are," Mrs. Hayfer agreed. "But here's a word of advice: it's your word against his, and well, no one around here believes anything that comes out of Drake Parker's mouth ANYWAY."

Arlene looked up, confused. "What?"

Mrs. Hayfer shrugged. "Drake's an idiot."

"No, I KNOW that," Arlene began, frustrated. "But everybody saw him kiss me on Sunday night. This isn't a matter of his word against mine. The whole damn school witnessed it."

"Yes, but one kiss is different than actually sleeping with him."

"But I did sleep with him," Arlene said miserably.

"No you didn't," Mrs. Hayfer argued.

"Yes, I DID!"

"No, because that would have been illegal … and you would never step over that line." She gave Arlene a knowing look.

Arlene raised an eyebrow. "But-"

"Arlene, listen." Mrs Hayfer rolled her eyes. "Not only do I never want to think of anyone doing anything with that boy that could at anytime even have the potential of reproducing those genes-" she shuddered, and then continued. "-but if you never slept with him, then you're in a lot less trouble." She sighed. "And as much as I hate him, I actually like you, your taste in men aside … and I realize that this is completely his fault."

"Well, it's my fault too-"

Mrs. Hayfer held up her hand. "COMPLETELY HIS FAULT." She stood up, and patted Arlene on the shoulder. "Remember what I said," she threw over her shoulder as she left. "And tell Drake…" she paused, and Arlene looked up. "I hate him," Mrs. Hayfer finished.

Arlene felt a tear trickle down her cheek, and she quickly wiped it away. Mrs. Hayfer strolled out the door and closed it softly behind her. Arlene watched her go, her voice following her down the hall with a sigh:

"I know…."

_**OK all, here we go! I've got one more chapter that I'm about to post RIGHT NOW... and then the ending epilogue. But here's the problem! I have two ways to end it, so I need you all to vote on what you want to read. Stay tuned for the poll at the end of next chapter!**_


	21. Chapter 21

**_OK - here's the almost-end ... take the poll at the end and vote on how it should end up!_**

**_Oh, and by the way: Arlene is listending to the Buzzcocks in this chapter - the song I was thinking of was "Ever fallen in love with someone (you shouldn't have fallen in love with)". I thought it was quite fitting - download the song if you're interested in the full mood of the chap._**

"Arlene, come on! Open up! I know you're in there!" Drake pounded on Arlene's front door to no avail. Her car was in the driveway, her kitchen light was on, and he could hear the Buzzcocks playing softly through an open window. He was determined to see her, even if he had to stand out here all night. So he said so: "Arlene, I'll stand here all night if I have to!"

Finally the door cracked open a bit, and Arlene poked her head out.

"Goddammit, Drake, stop screaming! My neighbors just called to ask if I needed any help with the deranged student at my door!"

"Let me come in," he pleaded. "Just for a minute."

"No. Go home." Her voice was firm, but held none of the coldness it had harbored previously. Drake took this as a positive sign, and pushed.

"Please, Arlene. I just want to …. End things on the right foot." It was a bad excuse. And it was another lie. All he really wanted was to beg her take him back – he would do anything. It had only been a few days, and already he could barely stop himself from going out of his own skin.

Arlene sighed. "If anyone sees you here, do you understand how much trouble we will both be in?"

Drake paused. "…yes…"

She closed her eyes, and then, with a look that clearly meant that her better judgement was disagreeing with her actions, opened the door and ushered him inside. "Make it quick, Drake. I have to pack."

Drake looked around in horror. "Where are you going?"

"To be with my mother in Phoenix. I'm going to work as a substitute there for the next semester and then try to get a different job out there next year."

They were both silent for a moment. And then Drake shuffled his feet a bit before launching into a rather unrehearsed, awkward line of questioning.

"Arlene, why are you doing this?"

She laughed then. Softly, almost as if she felt sorry for him. "Drake, honestly, I should think that was fairly obvious." She ran a hand through her hair. "Even without all the emotions that I have for you, you're a student, and you're not eighteen. We're actually quite lucky in this matter: our feelings don't matter, because the LAW settles the problem for us. You're a minor. I'm twenty-five. We're not together because legally we're not ALLOWED to be."

"That's not good enough for me," Drake pushed. "I'll be eighteen soon-"

"Yes, but that doesn't change the fact that you lied to me and got me FIRED," she snapped.

"Yeah, okay … about that …" He screwed up his face. "Listen, I only lied to you because I was so afraid to loose you. I know it sounds like a line or a con, but it's the truth. I haven't been able to eat or sleep since MONDAY, Arlene. I can't stop thinking about how my life seems so POINTLESS now that you don't want to be with me anymore." He reached for her hands, and she actually didn't resist when he took them in his own. "I love you, Arlene. And I know you love me, too. Isn't there something we can do-"

"Drake." She pulled her hands away from him, interrupting loudly. "Listen to yourself. Do you understand how ridiculous this is?" She turned, and walked to the middle of the room where she continued to speak, facing away form him. "I can't be with you, Drake. You're a different person than I thought you were. The fact that you're just a kid changes everything."

"No, Arlene, I'm still the same!"

"No, Drake, you're not. And honestly, I don't think I would date the type of guy I think you actually are."

Drake approached her. "What do you mean?"

Arlene sighed again, and took on her teacher's voice, as if to explain the concept to Drake very slowly. "Drake, I'm twenty-five years old. I'm in a completely different place in my life than you are. I want to look for a man to marry, and you want to look for a woman to … I don't know, take to the senior prom."

"I would have married you," he proclaimed honestly. "Maybe not in the next few years, but eventually."

"Oh, Drake…" She gave him a bittersweet smile. "It's not just that – everything that I knew about you seemed so authenitic and fresh because it was coming out of the mouth of a guy who was in his early twenties. But those same things coming out of the mouth of a severteen-year-old just aren't as appealing." She folded her arms tightly around herself.

"Like what? The college thing? I'm going to college for YOU. So I can be good enough for you."

"Yes, Drake, that's just it! I want the type of guy who goes to college for himself. Not because he thought it was right thing to do to be with me. It's the same thing with your music. When you were a guy with a soon-to-be college degree, pursuing your music was a noble and artistic way to be in the world. But Drake, you're not even out of high school yet – to make that decision so early is just foolish."

Drake reached over and took Arlene's hands. She treid to resist this time, but he held on firmly.

"Please, Arlene, don't DO this." He leaned in, and kissed her lightly. At first she froze, but then began to kiss back gently. Drake brought his hand up to cup her cheek, but she abruptly pulled away.

"No! No, Drake, I can't. You can't. We just …. CAN'T! I don't know why I ever let you come in here. You have to go. NOW." She had shaken him off of her body, and was pulling him to the door. She shoved him forcefully outside, and said firmly, "Look, you know how I feel about you, Drake, it's obvious to everyone. But this," she waved her hand in between them, "cannot work. I'm going to Phoenix tomorrow. Just …. Go." She closed the door then, not letting him plea for her any more. He stood there, outside her front door, in cold, alone silence. He waited, thinking that maybe, just maybe, she would open the door, that it was all a horrible nightmare. But he didn't wake up, and she didn't come to the door. In fact, he sighed to himself as he walked away, he couldn't even hear her crying inside her house.

Which, of course, doesn't mean that she wasn't - silently, into her hands, not even able to work up the energy to watch Drake leave her life from the nearby window.

**_Oh no!!! Awww - sadness..._**

**_OK, so I'm going to end it in the next chapter, but I want to know how it should end up. Basically, we move five years into the future, and see that Drake has sent Arlene a college graduation announcement in the mail. Now: I've got three possible endings -_**

**_1) Arlene does NOT go to his graduation, but opts instead to maintain the memories of the relationship she has come to terms with, and now looks back on fondly._**

**_2) Arlene goes to the graduation, and they reunite, but don't necessarily get back together._**

**_3) Arlene goes to the graduation, and romantic sparks fly..._**

**_So I'll wait about a week before posting the last chapter to tally votes. Hooray!_**


	22. Chapter 22

**_wow!!! THis took SOOOO long to finish ... Sorry about that everyone! I moved, and had no internet for almost three weeks. BUt I'm the new apartment now, and excited to have actually finished this story! Anyway, I hope you all like th ending: #2 got the most votes - a happy medium. I tried to keep it sweet, while not making it too ridiculously sappy. Let me know what you think! AND THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR READING AND ENJOYING! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!_**

**_Here we go..._**

It had been years since she had seen him, and days since she had thought of him. She had hidden most everything that reminded her of him away back in 2007, but in the almost five years since they had split ways, Arlene Cassidy had learned to remember Drake Parker fondly. She even wore the necklace he had given her for her birthday from time to time, shaking her head and laughing at the memory of the situation in general.

After moving back to Phoenix, Arlene had gotten a job as a math teacher at a small, private school. She looked around the fresh-faced 15-18 year olds in her classes day after day, year after year, and mused that either she was getting older, or they just bred them differently out there in California: there was no one yet that she would have even remotely assumed to be over the age of twenty. Most of them didn't even look like they could pass for seventeen.

It was beginning to warm up as the seasons turned from winter to Spring, and on one sunny morning sometime between April and May, Arlene received a nicely embossed letter from San Diego, California amidst her normal mail of bills and catalogs. Sitting out on her small porch, she furled her brows – her sister and brother-in-law had moved out of San Diego a couple of years ago: she wasn't expecting mail form anyone in California…

She tore open the envelope, and a small card fell out with the insignia of San Diego State University scrawled in gold letters across the top. She was intrigued, and flipped the card open, and then felt her stomach turn when she read the note:

"San Diego State University is proud to announce the graduation of Drake Parker with a bachelors degree in musical theory. Commencement will be on June 11th, at 2:00 pm."

So Drake had graduated from college. He must be twenty-two now, she mentally added years to him. Not that it mattered, she chided herself, as she was pushing thirty. But the note threw her for a bit of an emotional loop all the same, and she turned it over slowly in hands. She began to stuff it back into the envelope, and noticed a small piece of paper. She unfolded it slowly, and saw a brief message scrawled across it in what she still recognized as Drake's choppy handwriting:

"Arlene,

I know it's been a long time since we've spoken – I hope you don't think it's weird for me to be sending you a graduation announcement, but I wanted to let you know that I did it – I went to college, I've got a band that's doing really well locally, and I think we may get signed to a label pretty soon. Josh told me that I shouldn't send this to you, because you'd never in a million years come to see me graduate, and I know that he's right. I guess I just wanted you to know that of all the students you've even had an effect on, and all the students you ever WILL have an effect on, know that you've changed the life of this boy. I can honestly say that this – ALL of this – is because of you.

Thank you.

-Drake Parker"

She stared at the card for a long time. She couldn't. She wouldn't. There was no way. She buried the card under the rest of her mail, and left the room. It was a beautiful day outside, and she was sure that of all the things Drake Parker was thinking about, she had to be close to the bottom of his list. So she forced herself to think of something else, and went about her business.

Why, then, she mused six weeks later, was she on a red eye flight to Burbank with a fresh haircut and a new pair of shoes? It couldn't be that she still harbored feeling for him. She new that wasn't the case. After all, she admitted to herself, twenty-four and twenty-five is very young. Young enough to throw oneself wholeheartedly into a flight of ridiculous fancy, no matter how real the emotion might seem. She was almost thirty now, and even she could see the difference in herself. And she definitely knew that she wouldn't be attracted to a twenty-two year old boy. The age difference seemed greater now than it had five years ago when he was a teenager.

Either way, she had taken the last two weeks off of school – a welcome vacation that she felt she deserved. Arlene planned on visiting some friends in LA, stomping about some of her old haunts for a day or two, and then heading down to San Diego for Drake's graduation. She hadn't even decided yet if she was going to try to speak to him that day, or just watch, unknown, from afar. In fact, she wasn't sure if she was really ready to see him after all these years, but since the opportunity had presented itself, well … there she was, flying low into the Los Angeles skyline, nervous tension tightening in her stomach with each passing second.

Drake Parker couldn't have been more thrilled. He was actually a college graduate. He could hardly believe it: he had graduated from a university. All by himself. With grades that were graduateable, apparently, by San Diego State University standards. He walked across the stage proudly, and received his diploma: he could see his mother clapping enthusiastically, wiping ecstatic tears from her cheeks. Walter was grinning ear to ear, and Drake rolled his eyes. They were embarrassing, yes, but he loved his parents, and was thankful they were both in the audience to see him walk. Josh, of course, was between Walter and Megan, cheering loudly, and Drake reached up to wave to him, his graduation gown flapping wildly around his arm as he did so. Josh had been not only his brother, but his tutor, his partner in crime, his biggest supporter and his friend all through college, and there was no one he wanted at his graduation more. In fact, he thought smugly as he returned to his seat, there was no possible way for the day to get any better.

The small banquet after the graduation was a pleasant outdoor affair for the students, their families and friends. Drake and Josh immediately made a beeline for the brownies, shoving each other out of the way good-naturedly. Megan had wandered off, and Walter and Audrey were chatting with some other parents and friends they knew, all regretting that their children had 'grown up so fast'.

"Well, Drake, Congratulations," Josh toasted his brother with a brownie. "I always knew you could do it."

"Thanks man. That really means a lot."

"Awww," Josh shuffled his shoe on the ground, grinning in embarrassment.

"No, really. I mean, I don't think I could have gotten through it without you. You're a good brother."

Josh reached over and slapped his brother on the back. "Drake, there was a time when we were younger when you were kind-of a screw-up. But you know what? I never doubted that if you put your mind to it, you could succeed in anything you wanted to."

"What are you, a hallmark card?" Drake asked, clearly very pleased that Josh thought so highly of him.  
"Alright, alright. But just remember this. You wanted it, and you did it. It's a huge accomplishment."

Drake nodded. "Yeah, I actually am pretty proud of myself, to be honest. Although I'd never admit it to anyone but you." He shook his head. "Basically, the only way this day could get any better is if Virgin records signed my band to a million dollar deal, and an extremely hot girl showed up at my doorstep." He reached for a glass of champagne, and took a sip.

Josh rolled his eyes. "Let's not be greedy now, Drake."

"Hey, it could happen." He paused, and looked at his brother. "Come on. I'm Drake!" He smiled cockily, and Josh chuckled.

"Some things never changed," he muttered to himself, and reached for his own glass of champagne.

"Excuse me," came a voice behind them. Drake's ears perked: he recognized the voice, it seemed, but he couldn't place it. It was a fleeting and subconscious thought, and he shook it off before it had time to really take root in his brain. Until, that is, he heard Josh' squeaky intake of breath.

"Oh my God," he wheezed, and Drake gave him a funny look. He was staring in … horror? Amazement? Disbelief? at something directly behind his shoulder. Drake was about to turn around when the voce called his name, and suddenly he knew just why Josh looked as though he had seen a ghost.

"Drake?"

He froze, unsure of whether he should smile or bite his lip in consternation. He did neither, but slowly turned to face who he knew had to be … and it was. He was, indeed, eye to eye with a very poised Arlene Cassidy. Their eyes met, and they simply looked at each other for a few seconds before Arlene ventured more conversation.

"Drake? … Hi. Do you remember me?" She looked nervous, and he was completely taken by surprise. She looked similar, of course, but a little older, perhaps. She seemed taller, and all remnants of the spiky black mess of a pixie bob that he had loved to run his hands through in high school had been softened by a shoulder-length chestnut style that he assumed had to be her natural color. He said nothing, but just took in the sight of her; she took his silence for a lack of recognition, and she began to explain. "It's me, Drake, it's Arlene Cassidy."

"Arlene?" He finally managed to croak out.

She managed a weak, unconfident smile. "Hello, Drake. It's, uh, it's been a long time." She folded her hand n front of her, and then unfolded them again nervously. "Congratulations on graduating! I was so happy to hear that you had really gone through with it."

"Um …" he didn't quite know what to say, so he went for the automatic response. "Thanks, thank you." And then they just stood and looked at each other for another few seconds before she had to shift her eyes away from his gaze. She took a step back, and looked around in feigned interest.

"Well, I thought I'd stop by to see you graduate, so … you know." She was floundering, and Drake was watching her with a trained eye. "Anyway, I'd better be going, but really, Drake. I'm so happy for you." She reached out to squeeze his shoulder affectionately. He felt her touch, and it seemed to break him out of his long-lasting paralysis – as she pulled away, he sprung into action, and pulled her to him in a fierce and powerful embrace.

"Arlene," he said, "I can't believe you actually made it!"

She laughed then, with trepidation and excitement. "I know, I just … I don't know. I got your invitation, and for some reason, I just had to come."

He pulled back from her, and looked at her with shining eyes. "Wow! You look great!"

"Oh, stop," she shook her head. "I look thirty."

"No," he stopped her. "You look more beautiful than you did at twenty-five."

She smiled genuinely then, and even blushed a bit. "You don't look too bad yourself." She paused to actually look at him then. His sideburns were a little longer, and his face was a little less round. All in all he was still the handsome youth she remembered, but now he looked more like a man than a boy.

He shrugged with a gleam in his eye. "I work out," he teased, and then seemed to remember himself. "Hey, Arlene, you remember Josh, don't you? My brother?" He motioned to Josh, who still stood, staring wide-eyed and incredulous at Arlene.

"I do!" She nodded at the stunned boy next to Drake. "How are you Josh?"

"Uh, uh, uh …. I'm um …" Josh shook himself out of his babbling confusion. "I'm great. Thanks." He looked at Arlene, and then looked at Drake, and pointed over his shoulder. "I'm going to go find mom and dad, now," he said slowly, as if in a daze, and turned and rushed off. Arlene and Drake watched him go, and giggled softly.

"Poor guy," Arlene began, and hint of the girl Drake remembered returning to her tone. "I don't think he quite knows what to make of me showing up here."

"Yeah, well, that's Josh for you." Drake shrugged, and turned his full attention back to Arlene. "So how long are you here for?"

"Well," she began, "about another week. I've been teaching in Phoenix, but I've got the summer off, mostly, and I thought I'd stop in and see you, maybe visit some other friends in the area."

Drake's look got sour. "Not Mrs. Hayfer, I hope."

Arlene burst out laughing. "Mrs. Hayfer! I had forgotten all about her!"

"She didn't forget about you," Drake said darkly. "The amount of shit I got from her after …" he paused, and looked at the woman in front of him. "After, well, you know."

Luckily, Arlene just smiled. "Yeah, I know." She paused, looked out at the horizon, seemingly at nothing, and then turned back to him with a goofy grin. "Drake? How the fuck did that happen?" She started to laugh again. "I mean, think about it! It's so ridiculous!"

He smiled, and looked at the floor. "Yeah…. a little." He returned his gaze to hers. "But really, it's all my fault. I'd never met anyone I felt as strongly as I did with you, and I did anything I could to keep you around." He took her hand affectionately in his own. "Which brings me to something I've been wanting to tell you," he said more seriously. She cocked her head in confusion, and waited for what ever was coming next. She was unprepared, however, when he said, simply, "thank you."

"What? For what?"

"For this," he said, motioning around himself. "Sure, Josh motivated me through the whole thing, and helped me actually pass classes and stuff, but honestly Arlene, I never would have even thought about going to college if it hadn't been for you. Don't feel weird about that or anything, it's just something I've always wanted to tell you, but I thought the best time would be when I had actually graduated. You know, followed through."

Arlene sighed with a wistful smile. "Oh Drake," she said, and pulled him into another tight hug. "I've really missed you," she whispered, and realized that it was true, even though she hadn't realized it until just that moment.

He held her close, and inhaled deeply the scent of her hair. "I missed you too, Arlene." He held her close for what seemed like a long time. Finally, they parted, and searched each other's faces for traces of emotion to help explain the strange feeling of bittersweet affection each felt toward the other. Drake was the first to speak.

"Well, my parents are taking me out to dinner tonight, but that's not for another couple of hours." He looked over at his family, and saw with some amusement that they were all staring wide-eyed at him and his surprise companion. They all turned quickly as soon as they saw he was looking at them, and he almost laughed out loud. He turned back to Arlene, and held out his arm. "Would you like to go somewhere? Nothing fancy, but you know, maybe grab a beer at the place down the street?"

Arlene paused, and then nodded slowly. She laced her arm through his, and smiled at him warmly. "Yes," she answered surely. "I think a beer would be great." He waved to his parents, and motioned that he would be back later, and the two of them strode down the street chatting idly, filling in the gaps of the last five years apart. Where would this go from here? Probably nowhere, Arlene mused silently, with a pang of something she couldn't quite identify settling into her stomach. But the feeling left as quickly as it had come when she forced herself to smile through the angst. It didn't matter. They were here, together for now, old friends rekindling a relationship that, romantic or not, was an important part of each of their lives. She ran her hand down his arm and laced her fingers through his affectionately. He took the act in stride, and they kept walking, talking, laughing, and simply being. San Diego hadn't changed, she thought as they walked, and really, neither had either of them: the past no longer mattered, only the moment in which they presently resided: sunny, friendly, and satisfying in its own right. Arlene Cassidy had no fantasies of marrying Drake Parker, but now, at least, they had taken an important step toward being friends. They reached the door to the café, and Drake opened the door for her. She grinned, and slipped in before him. He followed close behind, and the door swung shut slowly with a soft swish and a click that signified the promise of amiable finality. It was a lovely afternoon, after-all, and Arlene was bound and determined to enjoy herself, because she knew that not two feet away from her, Drake Parker was determined to do the same. They reached the counter, and Drake pulled out his wallet.

"Two coronas, please," he said, as he threw a 10$ bill on the counter.

"Will that be all?" asked the man behind the register.

Drake looked at Arlene, and raised an eyebrow. She gave a small smile, and turned to the register.

"Yeah – that's it for now."

**_THE END!!!!!! (Whew!)_**


End file.
